Smokers’ lungs and normal people’s lungs are different in color, interstitium, and peripheral blood vessel walls.
1. Color: Normal lungs are pink, while smokers’ lungs are multi-colored, i.e., “five-colored lungs”. With the prolongation of smoking time, the color of the lungs gradually deepens, and a history of smoking for more than ten years may turn the lungs into black lungs.
2. Interstitium: Smokers may have fibrosis or hyperplasia in the interstitium of the lungs, which can be observed on chest X-ray.
3. Blood vessel walls: The blood vessel walls around the lungs of smokers are thicker than those of normal people, resulting in a reduced exchange of oxygen during exhalation.
Smoking is harmful to health, and patients are advised to quit smoking as soon as possible to reduce the prevalence of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.