14 DAY TRIAL // Smokers toying with the idea of quitting might give up on this plan when learning that X-rays and other similar exams cannot find anything wrong with their lungs or airways.
Weill Cornell Medical College scientists say that, as encouraging as such tests results might be, people must not forget that smoking harms the human body, even if it takes a while for the damage to become obvious.
They claim that, after carrying out several investigations, they reached the conclusion that even smokers who appear to be healthy still have early cell damage in their airways and lungs.
In some cases, this damage looks strikingly similar to the one detected in cancer patients. This proves that, at a biological level, lungs belonging to smokers will always display at least some abnormalities.
In time, the abnormalities can lead to cancer.
“The study doesn't say these people have cancer, but that the cells are already starting to lose control and become disordered,” Dr. Ronald G. Crystal explains, as cited by EurekAlert.
“The smoker thinks they are normal, and their doctor's exam is normal, but we know at the biologic level that all cigarette smokers' lungs are abnormal to some degree,” he further warns.