Until now all we knew about asthma and smoking was that smoking is a bad habit as it affects the lungs and, therefore, aggravates asthma symptoms. And if an asthmatic kicked the habit, he was said to have done the best choice because he would no longer worsen the condition if his lungs. But we didn't know exactly how helpful the lack of smoking is for the pulmonary functions.

A recent research carried out by scientists at the University of Glasgow have shown that if an asthmatic quits smoking he improves his condition with 15% at least. The study has been performed on 21 volunteers aged between 18-60. All of them smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day and had a ten years history in tobacco smoking. Also, the way in which their lungs functioned was with at least 85% worse than the one of a healthy man having the same age.

Ten of the volunteers continued smoking, while eleven quit smoking with the help of nicotine patches, acupuncture or by their own will and no other outside help. The medical tests showed that individuals that quit smoking exhibited improved pulmonary function after only a week.

The better condition of the no longer smokers came, among other factors, from the fact that the high levels of neutrophils (a type of white blood cells) decreased. Scientists that performed the study also considered that quitting smoking releases patients from the acute bronchoconstrictor and proinflammatory effects tobacco had upon their health.

Leader of the research, Dr. Neil C. Thomson, from the department of Respiratory Medicine and Immunology at the Glasgow University stated that:

"The improvement in lung function seen after smoking cessation was clinically significant. It demonstrates that there is a reversible component to the harmful effects of smoking on the airways in asthma.

The degree of improvement noted for smoking cessation far exceeds that of high-dose anti-inflammatory treatment, such as oral prednisolone, 40 milligrams daily for two weeks, which had no effect on lung function in smokers in our current study and in our previous work."