According to a recent report by Nature Research, your lungs have the phenomenal ability to self-cure from the damaging effects of smoking. In order for the healing process to begin, however, you first need to quit smoking.

Previously, it was believed that the mutations that resulted in lung cancer were permanent, even if you stopped smoking. But the new findings demonstrated that the small number of cells which don’t suffer any damage from smoking could rehabilitate the lungs.

Even “1 Pack a Day” Smokers Can Self Cure

This healing process has been documented in ex-smokers that smoked one pack of tobacco cigarettes every day for as many as 40 years before stopping. 

The DNA in your lung cells gradually becomes cancerous as a result of numerous harmful chemicals that are released when smoking. This is very common, even before someone is diagnosed with cancer, according to the study.

Most of the cells from a smoker’s airways had as many as 10,000 genetic alterations, which is considered a disaster waiting to happen by medical experts. At this stage, it doesn’t take much for them to quickly deteriorate into cancer

But there were a few cells that weren’t mutated. While there is no conclusive reasoning for why this is as yet, it is these same cells that regenerate and take the place of the compromised cells in the lungs, starting the self-curing process.

The Sooner You Quit the Higher Your Chances to Self Heal

Studies have already shown that cessation of tobacco cigarettes diminished the chances of developing cancer. However, it was believed that the reason for this was because the mutations caused by smoking would stop. 

Now it is clear that the benefits are even greater. Any further damage to lung cells as a result of tobacco is prevented and the healthy cells act as a type of self-cure for the lungs as well.

A New Lease Of Life For Smokers

Up to 40% of the cells in people who had successfully given up smoking, were in the same condition as people that never smoked according to the study. This provides newfound hope for heavy smokers that previously believed their lungs were beyond repair. You can now quit with the confidence that your lungs will begin to self-cure from the damaging effects of smoking.