Smoking and Lung Health
Tobacco damages lungs and heart.
About this topic
Tobacco smoke contains nicotine (addictive), tar (carcinogenic) and carbon monoxide (binds haemoglobin, reducing oxygen carrying). It paralyses cilia in the airways, so mucus and germs build up, causing smoker's cough and bronchitis; damages alveoli (emphysema), and causes lung cancer.
Healthy lungs have millions of alveoli giving a huge surface area for gas exchange, and cilia and mucus clean the air. In emphysema, alveolar walls break down, leaving fewer, larger air spaces, so less oxygen enters blood and the person is breathless. Carbon monoxide reduces oxygen supply to the body, which in pregnancy can lead to low birth weight.
Nicotine raises heart rate and blood pressure and narrows blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack. Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death. Evidence such as the studies by Doll and Hill in the 1950s showed that smokers were much more likely to die of lung cancer.
Passive smoking also harms others, especially children. Quitting brings rapid benefits: heart risk falls within a year and lung cancer risk keeps dropping. Aids include nicotine patches, counselling and support. Remember that e-cigarettes are not harmless; they still contain nicotine, which is addictive.
Key ideas
- Tar causes cancer
- Nicotine is addictive
- Smoke damages cilia
Quick check
Use cases: where Smoking and Lung Health helps
- Homework: review the key idea behind Smoking and Lung Health before you start a problem set.
- Exam revision: use the quick check to test whether you can recall Smoking and Lung Health without notes.
- Visual learning: play with the interactive lab to see how Smoking and Lung Health changes when you adjust its inputs.
- Teaching a friend: explain Smoking and Lung Health in your own words, then compare your version with the key ideas.
Biology underpins medicine, farming, conservation and biotechnology.
Frequently asked questions
What is Smoking and Lung Health?
Tobacco damages lungs and heart.
What will I learn in Smoking and Lung Health?
Tar causes cancer. Nicotine is addictive. Smoke damages cilia.
Is Smoking and Lung Health part of Biology?
Yes. It is one of 150 Biology topics on LearnViz HighSchoolEdu, with 3 key ideas, a live animation and a quick check.
Does the Smoking and Lung Health lab work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The animation resizes to fit your screen and supports touch, so you can drag, tap and slide with your finger.
How should I study Smoking and Lung Health?
Read the summary and key ideas first, play with the interactive lab to see the idea in motion, then answer the quick check. If you get a question wrong, go back to the key idea it tests.
Do I need an account, and is my progress saved?
No account is needed. Marking a topic as learned is saved in your own browser, so it stays on that device and is not sent to a server.