Surgeons Show What The Human Lungs Look Like After 30 Years Of Smoking & It’s Shocking
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. It accounts for almost half a million deaths each year, meaning that 1 in 5 deaths occurs because of smoking and its damage to the human body. Nevertheless, thousands of people continue to smoke despite the health hazards and numerous prevention programs.
People who smoke are twice as likely to have a heart attack and 30 times more likely to suffer from lung cancer, compared to non-smokers. However, anyone who has battled an addiction knows just how damn hard it is to quit. Well, hopefully, this imagery will make you reevaluate your lifestyle choices, all you smokers out there.
More info: CDC
A shocking video shows the charcoaled lungs of a person who smoked for 30 years
Image credits: Chen Jingyu
For comparison, healthy lungs should have a pink color, whereas these lungs seem extremely inflamed from years of tobacco residue clogging them up. The lungs belonged to a 52-year-old man who died because of multiple lung diseases. The video was captured by the surgeons and later posted with a caption ‘Do you still have the courage to smoke?’ The patient had signed up to donate his organs after death, but unfortunately, hospital staff quickly realized that they won’t be able to use them.
The man wanted to donate his organs, however, medics quickly realized that it won’t be possible
Image credits: Chen Jingyu
Dr. Chen, a lung transplant surgeon who led the operation, told the media: “The patient didn’t undergo a CT scan before his death. He was declared brain dead, and his lungs were donated shortly after that. Initial oxygenation index tests were okay, but when we harvested the organs, we realized we wouldn’t be able to use them.”
“Look at these lungs – do you still have the courage to smoke?”
Image credits: Chen Jingyu
“We Chinese love smoking. It would be impractical to say that we wouldn’t accept the lungs of all smokers, but there are strict standards. [We would accept] lungs from people under 60 years of age who have only recently died, minor infections in the lungs and relatively clean X-rays are also acceptable. If the above conditions are met, we would consider transplanting the lungs,” the surgeon added.
Here’s what people online had to say
181Kviews
Share on FacebookI'm so glad I quit smoking in 2005. One of the best things I ever did. OK, my lungs may never be 100% ever again, but at least they never will be as bad as what is shown here.
I've heard it takes the lungs about seven years to clear up all the smoke residue when you stop smokinh. So your lungs probably look quite good these days!
Load More Replies...I quit in June, after 25 years. I still want one, but I'm stubborn enough to keep going!
Keep up the effort! It's hard, so hard. I smoked for 55 years and my lungs will never recover within my life span. Besides that I have COPD and lung cancer. Hard to say which one will kill me, but one of them will...and yes I still want a cigarette some days.
Load More Replies...I will go to my grave wondering why people are so enamored with the process of taking what is essentially inhaling the burning fumes from a poisonous weed. We need new medical technologies to help smokers quit and further restrictions on the sale of cigarrettes.
Because it produces a chemical reaction in your brain. Duh. And it's an addictive substance on top of that.
Load More Replies...Eww. I promised myself at a very young age that I'll never smoke, not even once. I simply don't see a point except to destroy ones own health and to spend too much money in order to do it. And I'm sorry for all the passive smokers, especially the kids
I smoked for 20 years - from the age of 0 to the time I left home. Thanks mum.
Load More Replies...I wonder what the lungs of people who vape look like? I saw that recently a teenager underwent a lung transplant because the damage was so severe. They basically said it aged his lungs by 70 years.
I read about it. He was healthy at 16, on life-support at 17. His lungs were destroyed. Didn’t appear on the scan. The dr said he’d been doing lung transplants for 20 yrs & had never seen anything so bad. People who say vaping is safer than smoking are deluding themselves. Vaping is even worse.
Load More Replies...I never smoked, but everyone in my family and my husbands family smoked plus my husband and I hung out in the bars for about 10 yrs. Living in a smoking environment has caused my lungs a lot of damage. Years ago my husband and I just went for chest x-rays and when we got to the doctor for the results the doctor wanted to know when I had quit smoking he said my lungs looked worse than my husband's. I also have lived a very sedentary life which has caused Nia Long as not to breathe in as much clean air or get rid of what I was breathing in and today at 61 I have a lot of the same problems as a smoker.
Women have smaller lungs and narrower blood vessels than men do. Practically all medical research is done on males. Smoking is much worse for women and on top of that, the medical establishment does not really have the knowledge they damn well ought to have. Women do amount to half the population after all!
Load More Replies...My partner died of non-small cell lung cancer last week. He was 54 years old. Life had just come good for us after years of struggle building our business. We had more time for our hobbies and spent all our time together, both working and relaxing. Even after 10 years together my tummy always did a girlish flip every time he walked in the front door. Now nobody walks in that door. Our business is finished, our staff all laid off. No more his winning smile or mischievous wink. He fought to the bitter end, not ready to leave me behind. So much left undone. If you smoke, I beg you on behalf of all that love you, make your next cigarette your last.
I used to put images like that up around the house to deter the kids from smoking. It didn't help! Incidentally, don't believe the myth that your lungs fix themselves after a certain amount of time. My mother smoked very lightly and occasionally for about six years. She gave up completely in 1971. Today she has scarring in the lobes of her lungs, mild COPD and issues with asthma. The damage is often permanent. I hope to live long enough too see the entire industry brought to its knees and eradicated.
Yeah, those scars don’t just disappear. I know someone who quit smoking but afterwards got emphysema. I suspect it also caused the severely disfiguring skin cancer b/c that’s on the face & the hand. Some people get oral cancer from smoking. I think people ignore the possibility that smoking can DESTROY THEIR FACE. Another thing, I read that nicotine constricts blood vessels so that if something amputated is sewn back on, it will still die & fall off. Then I saw on TV someone whose toe was cut off in an accident. She said the drs refused to sew it back on. Nobody said why, but I’m sure it was b/c of smoking.
Load More Replies...I smoked for too many years but finally managed to quit. Four years later, I was diagnosed with cancer (no, not lung cancer) and the first question each and every doctor asked me was "Do you smoke?". Their relief when I answered that I quit four years earlier was palpable. That will soon be sixteen years ago! Yay!
Looking at this picture - but - this is the outside what about the INSIDE of those lungs ??
lots of people smoke because they're having a terrible life ( probably ) and smoking makes them feel better ( for a short while ). But after they smoke, it's REALLY hard to stop.
Yes, you are partly right. Any addict who gets their fix will initially feel better.
Load More Replies...In Norway we have laser therapy for smokers. It is harmless and painless and makes the part of your brain that want to smoke, not crave for it, I think for about 6months, so you have the chance to stopp, and also you can take one more round after that period of time, but I think then you should stay away from other smokers, during this time, untill you are cured at least. My family are heavy smokers but too stubborn to try this. Also they are extremly sick becouse of smoking, and made me and kids in the family get astma and allergies, they smoke while pregnant. Smoking is 100% evil, becouse you ruine others health too. At least people who really want this drug, they should chew it like people from India.
Smoking is bad, bad for the smoker, his family, but in England they do not really wish people to give up as the tax they pay on tobacco is far more per year than the cost of running the NHS. That is why there is no real help for smokers to quit, like they have for druggies and alcoholics.
Despite all recommendations, I am convinced that the best vape brand of all times is SMOK. They always provide products with an exact high quality.
I knew I needed a good incentive to stop. And yes, health should have been enough but it wasn't. Even money should have been enough. I found my incentive in a Bengal kitten lol! I told my partner I'd stop smoking if we got the kitten I fell in love with him and he agreed! We have the kitten, I'm using my vape and I'm down to 4 cigarettes a day. I've just gradually went down and I'm at the stage where I'm not really enjoying a cigarette anymore, which I'm happy about, it will make it easier to stop with them completely! I'm just worried about the stuff you hear about the vaping?
Wow... I just read through the article and got an add about getting an e cig
The picture of these lungs would be the best anti smoking campaign.
No, it wouldn't. Here in Spain all cigarette packets have dreadful pictures of black lungs, tracheostomies, people dying of cancer... and smokers continue smoking. It's highly addictive, and chemical stuff is added to make it go directly to people's brains, so for many it's impossible to quit. Both tobacco and stuff to "help" people to stop smoking are multimillion dollar businesses, so there are many people who want to keep people addicted to this s**t, trying to quit, failing miserably, and starting again.
Load More Replies...Why did they think they could use the lungs of someone who died of "multiple lung diseases" anyway?
My moms brothers are addicted.. and it's really bad. They can go through 2 packs of cigarettes a day and they now have chronic cough. They've really tried to stop, but its difficult after 40+ years. Their sons (my cousins) are idiots and learned nothing from their dads mistakes and vape / juul, despite everyone telling them not to. Their argument? "At least Im not smoking actual cigarettes"
The advertising for vapes has been woefully under-regulated.
Load More Replies...Idk why people pay lots of $$ to slowly kill themselves? Smoking anyting is bad for the body...just ask a fireman.
Addiction is not stupidity, it's addiction. Many people start before their prefrontal cortex is fully developed, and are addicted long before it finishes developing
Load More Replies...This is not true for everyone. I am 54 years old and been smoking since I was 11 years old and my lungs are just fine. My doctor listens to my chest and tells me that I do not sound like a smoker. I have also had my lungs looked at and they are just fine.
This is not true for everyone. I am 54 years old and been smoking since I was 11 years old and my lungs are fine. Doctor told me I sound very clear when I breathe and they also look fine.
I smoke cannabis only. Hope my lungs can handle it.... if not, oh well.
This doesn't surprise me. When my stepfather had a heart attack and his lungs were xrayed one of the nurses told him exactly what brand of cigarettes he smoked and for how long he had been smoking them. He was stunned. That was enough to make him stop smoking. It was over twenty years ago and he is still alive and kicking today.
Let people do whatever they want. Life is hard enough. They know the risks, they've seen the results they're adults.
??? Let people do whatever Big Tobacco wants. Life is hard enough to make your own informed decisions. The Big Tobacco companies know the risks, they have seen the results, they are very rich adults who will not stop peddling their addictive wares unless they are forced to stop.
Load More Replies...I'm so glad I quit smoking in 2005. One of the best things I ever did. OK, my lungs may never be 100% ever again, but at least they never will be as bad as what is shown here.
I've heard it takes the lungs about seven years to clear up all the smoke residue when you stop smokinh. So your lungs probably look quite good these days!
Load More Replies...I quit in June, after 25 years. I still want one, but I'm stubborn enough to keep going!
Keep up the effort! It's hard, so hard. I smoked for 55 years and my lungs will never recover within my life span. Besides that I have COPD and lung cancer. Hard to say which one will kill me, but one of them will...and yes I still want a cigarette some days.
Load More Replies...I will go to my grave wondering why people are so enamored with the process of taking what is essentially inhaling the burning fumes from a poisonous weed. We need new medical technologies to help smokers quit and further restrictions on the sale of cigarrettes.
Because it produces a chemical reaction in your brain. Duh. And it's an addictive substance on top of that.
Load More Replies...Eww. I promised myself at a very young age that I'll never smoke, not even once. I simply don't see a point except to destroy ones own health and to spend too much money in order to do it. And I'm sorry for all the passive smokers, especially the kids
I smoked for 20 years - from the age of 0 to the time I left home. Thanks mum.
Load More Replies...I wonder what the lungs of people who vape look like? I saw that recently a teenager underwent a lung transplant because the damage was so severe. They basically said it aged his lungs by 70 years.
I read about it. He was healthy at 16, on life-support at 17. His lungs were destroyed. Didn’t appear on the scan. The dr said he’d been doing lung transplants for 20 yrs & had never seen anything so bad. People who say vaping is safer than smoking are deluding themselves. Vaping is even worse.
Load More Replies...I never smoked, but everyone in my family and my husbands family smoked plus my husband and I hung out in the bars for about 10 yrs. Living in a smoking environment has caused my lungs a lot of damage. Years ago my husband and I just went for chest x-rays and when we got to the doctor for the results the doctor wanted to know when I had quit smoking he said my lungs looked worse than my husband's. I also have lived a very sedentary life which has caused Nia Long as not to breathe in as much clean air or get rid of what I was breathing in and today at 61 I have a lot of the same problems as a smoker.
Women have smaller lungs and narrower blood vessels than men do. Practically all medical research is done on males. Smoking is much worse for women and on top of that, the medical establishment does not really have the knowledge they damn well ought to have. Women do amount to half the population after all!
Load More Replies...My partner died of non-small cell lung cancer last week. He was 54 years old. Life had just come good for us after years of struggle building our business. We had more time for our hobbies and spent all our time together, both working and relaxing. Even after 10 years together my tummy always did a girlish flip every time he walked in the front door. Now nobody walks in that door. Our business is finished, our staff all laid off. No more his winning smile or mischievous wink. He fought to the bitter end, not ready to leave me behind. So much left undone. If you smoke, I beg you on behalf of all that love you, make your next cigarette your last.
I used to put images like that up around the house to deter the kids from smoking. It didn't help! Incidentally, don't believe the myth that your lungs fix themselves after a certain amount of time. My mother smoked very lightly and occasionally for about six years. She gave up completely in 1971. Today she has scarring in the lobes of her lungs, mild COPD and issues with asthma. The damage is often permanent. I hope to live long enough too see the entire industry brought to its knees and eradicated.
Yeah, those scars don’t just disappear. I know someone who quit smoking but afterwards got emphysema. I suspect it also caused the severely disfiguring skin cancer b/c that’s on the face & the hand. Some people get oral cancer from smoking. I think people ignore the possibility that smoking can DESTROY THEIR FACE. Another thing, I read that nicotine constricts blood vessels so that if something amputated is sewn back on, it will still die & fall off. Then I saw on TV someone whose toe was cut off in an accident. She said the drs refused to sew it back on. Nobody said why, but I’m sure it was b/c of smoking.
Load More Replies...I smoked for too many years but finally managed to quit. Four years later, I was diagnosed with cancer (no, not lung cancer) and the first question each and every doctor asked me was "Do you smoke?". Their relief when I answered that I quit four years earlier was palpable. That will soon be sixteen years ago! Yay!
Looking at this picture - but - this is the outside what about the INSIDE of those lungs ??
lots of people smoke because they're having a terrible life ( probably ) and smoking makes them feel better ( for a short while ). But after they smoke, it's REALLY hard to stop.
Yes, you are partly right. Any addict who gets their fix will initially feel better.
Load More Replies...In Norway we have laser therapy for smokers. It is harmless and painless and makes the part of your brain that want to smoke, not crave for it, I think for about 6months, so you have the chance to stopp, and also you can take one more round after that period of time, but I think then you should stay away from other smokers, during this time, untill you are cured at least. My family are heavy smokers but too stubborn to try this. Also they are extremly sick becouse of smoking, and made me and kids in the family get astma and allergies, they smoke while pregnant. Smoking is 100% evil, becouse you ruine others health too. At least people who really want this drug, they should chew it like people from India.
Smoking is bad, bad for the smoker, his family, but in England they do not really wish people to give up as the tax they pay on tobacco is far more per year than the cost of running the NHS. That is why there is no real help for smokers to quit, like they have for druggies and alcoholics.
Despite all recommendations, I am convinced that the best vape brand of all times is SMOK. They always provide products with an exact high quality.
I knew I needed a good incentive to stop. And yes, health should have been enough but it wasn't. Even money should have been enough. I found my incentive in a Bengal kitten lol! I told my partner I'd stop smoking if we got the kitten I fell in love with him and he agreed! We have the kitten, I'm using my vape and I'm down to 4 cigarettes a day. I've just gradually went down and I'm at the stage where I'm not really enjoying a cigarette anymore, which I'm happy about, it will make it easier to stop with them completely! I'm just worried about the stuff you hear about the vaping?
Wow... I just read through the article and got an add about getting an e cig
The picture of these lungs would be the best anti smoking campaign.
No, it wouldn't. Here in Spain all cigarette packets have dreadful pictures of black lungs, tracheostomies, people dying of cancer... and smokers continue smoking. It's highly addictive, and chemical stuff is added to make it go directly to people's brains, so for many it's impossible to quit. Both tobacco and stuff to "help" people to stop smoking are multimillion dollar businesses, so there are many people who want to keep people addicted to this s**t, trying to quit, failing miserably, and starting again.
Load More Replies...Why did they think they could use the lungs of someone who died of "multiple lung diseases" anyway?
My moms brothers are addicted.. and it's really bad. They can go through 2 packs of cigarettes a day and they now have chronic cough. They've really tried to stop, but its difficult after 40+ years. Their sons (my cousins) are idiots and learned nothing from their dads mistakes and vape / juul, despite everyone telling them not to. Their argument? "At least Im not smoking actual cigarettes"
The advertising for vapes has been woefully under-regulated.
Load More Replies...Idk why people pay lots of $$ to slowly kill themselves? Smoking anyting is bad for the body...just ask a fireman.
Addiction is not stupidity, it's addiction. Many people start before their prefrontal cortex is fully developed, and are addicted long before it finishes developing
Load More Replies...This is not true for everyone. I am 54 years old and been smoking since I was 11 years old and my lungs are just fine. My doctor listens to my chest and tells me that I do not sound like a smoker. I have also had my lungs looked at and they are just fine.
This is not true for everyone. I am 54 years old and been smoking since I was 11 years old and my lungs are fine. Doctor told me I sound very clear when I breathe and they also look fine.
I smoke cannabis only. Hope my lungs can handle it.... if not, oh well.
This doesn't surprise me. When my stepfather had a heart attack and his lungs were xrayed one of the nurses told him exactly what brand of cigarettes he smoked and for how long he had been smoking them. He was stunned. That was enough to make him stop smoking. It was over twenty years ago and he is still alive and kicking today.
Let people do whatever they want. Life is hard enough. They know the risks, they've seen the results they're adults.
??? Let people do whatever Big Tobacco wants. Life is hard enough to make your own informed decisions. The Big Tobacco companies know the risks, they have seen the results, they are very rich adults who will not stop peddling their addictive wares unless they are forced to stop.
Load More Replies...
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