Study: Smoking cessation may reverse asthma damage

Here's yet another reason for your patients to stop smoking. A new study suggests that asthmatic smokers may be able to reverse some of their lung damage if they kick the habit.

Researchers with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands examined 147 patients with asthma and assessed how severe their asthma and allergy symptoms were, including the extent to which smoking symptoms were involved. The patients then underwent bronchial biopsies.

Researchers found that patients who were current or former smokers had a epithelial thickening, and impaired levels of exhaled nitric oxide. Upon analyzing the data, researchers concluded that smoking cessation could reverse the thickening.

The study will be published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine next week.

To get more information on the study:
- read this UPI piece

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