Why do smokers have "smoker's cough"?

[Steve George]

In article <5qm5c9$9...@nyx.cs.du.edu>, anon...@nyx.cs.du.edu (Bruce
Watson) wrote:

(snip)
> Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that irritate the air passages and
> lungs. When a smoker inhales these substances, the body tries to protect
> itself by coughing.

Probably *coats* the throat more than anything else, like the drapes. A
"story" *IS* a story..

> The well-known "early morning" cough of smokers
> happens for a different reason. Normally, cilia (tiny hairlike
> formations lining the airways) beat outward and sweep harmful material
> out of the lungs. Cigarette smoke, however, decreases the sweeping
> action, so some of the poisons in the smoke remain in the lungs. When a
> smoker sleeps, some cilia recover and begin working again. After waking
> up, the smoker coughs because the lungs are trying to clear away the
> poisons that built up the previous day. Unfortunately, prolonged
> exposure to smoke completely destroys the cilia's ability to function.
> Then the smoker's lungs are even more exposed and susceptible than
> before, especially to bacteria and viruses in the air.

Gee, 30-50 YEARS or more.. You'd think they wouldn't last a week. So
what is the role of mucus formation ("coughing up phlegm" from time to
time, a "cleansing process" that starts after maybe 15-20 years or more)
in all this, did you forget to copy this part..? Or did someone on MY
money forget to "study" it..?!!! <grrrr!!>

God, the lungs would NEVER have made it this far against just day-to-day
smog, would they..

So I'm not living by an active volcano either, so? People make it all the
same. 50 year "poisons," now NATURE would never have thought of THAT
one!!

Steve G