If you smoked for 45 or more years and you quit smoking, do you need an oxygen tank to stablize your breathing? Can anyone tell me what happens to your lungs/body if this is the case? If not, would this be the onset of emphysema? The person this is happening to, I would rather not ask.
2007-03-22 13:49:58 · 13 answers · asked by kaspercoffee 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Respiratory Diseases
The doctors said she needs the oxygen to stabilize her breathing. She will have to be on it for a couple of months. She just had a mastectomy.
2007-03-22 14:07:21 · update #1
I don't smoke.
2007-03-22 14:09:10 · update #2
My dad is 56 he just quit smoking... he is a heavy smoker he is having less trouble breathing and his oxygen flow is inproving quite a bit! hes been smoking since he was 12
2007-03-22 13:54:05 · answer #1 · answered by MissNOYB! 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No it won't increase your oxygen but it might prevent you from getting something like cancer. No promises there either. After 45 years of smoking the damage is already done. Emphysema, C.O.P.D., asthma, all fun results of many years of smoking and yes, that is sarcasm. I am that person. I have shed many a tear over things I want to do but can't any more. Some days just walking across the room is hard. Just a minor cold can take every bit of energy out of me. I can not eat a meal and do any activities after without great effort because the energy it takes to digest food takes from my energy needed to breath. Talk to that person it is so much easier if others understand. I hate people thinking I am lazy because I look just fine to them. I am going to make the best of it. One day at a time. I know some day I will have to use oxygen but for now I would rather do without even tho doctors have offered it. I have a young child I do not want worrying about me.
There are some medicines that help a great deal too, Spiriva, Albuterol, etc.
2007-03-22 14:07:53 · answer #2 · answered by JAN 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Quitting smoking will not increase your need for oxygen. It will DECREASE your need for it.
At the bottom of your lungs there are structures called alveoli that actually perform the gas exchange. They have the consistency of a sponge, and it's the squeezing motion that allows for gas exchange. When you smoke, it's the equivalent of taking an paintbrush full of tar and coating the alveoli. They loose their ability to contract and therefore cause decreased ability to get oxygen into your body and carbon dioxide out.
After smoking for 45 years, the destruction will never be completely reversed. However, the sooner you quit smoking the better your chances of avoiding Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (like Emphysema or Chronic Bronchitis) which are associated with smoking.
But you don't need more oxygen when you quit.
2007-03-22 13:57:07 · answer #3 · answered by PhysicianAssistant 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Odds are if she needs oxygen it will be with her the rest of her life. I quit 2 years ago I need oxygen under certain situ's
exercise and high humidity. I smoked for 55 years, there is a damn small chance that I will ever be able to give up the 02
Her lungs are so full of crap that it will take over 10 years to get rid of some of it
The succky side of COPD
2007-03-22 15:35:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not the quitting smoking that makes the oxygen tank necessary. It's the damage to the lungs done over the years by smoking that makes it so. Their lungs no longer work the way they're supposed to - can't get enough oxygen from the air around them, so they need a supplement of pure oxygen.
2007-03-22 13:54:06 · answer #5 · answered by UNITool 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The smoking and the surgery she just had are confusing to your question. If one smoked for over 45 years, I would think they would already have emphysema. The surgery would not have made someone use oxygen just for a short period of time.
I have emphysema and I am on oxygen 24/7. Your friend would have other symptoms of emphysema, I would think. I don't think you have the total story. This is not the whole tale.
2007-03-22 16:40:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
quitting smoking is very good for your body. it doesn't matter how long you've smoked. once you quit your lungs do heal over time. it helps to increase oxygen, which you can breathe better
2007-03-22 13:54:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
No you don't need a tank of oxygen.
2007-03-22 13:55:30 · answer #8 · answered by Sergio R 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only good things happen after quitting smoking!
2007-03-22 13:54:12 · answer #9 · answered by a 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You will need the oxygen tank if u keep on smoking.
btw, I'm a smoker too.
2007-03-22 13:54:29 · answer #10 · answered by Kuni Nama 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋