3 ms·

As a regular user of nicotine lozenges, I’m struggling to work out how my lung alveoli are going to be affected.

• bunderbunder 8y ago
  Elastin is an important protein in tissues that need to be elastic to function well, such as alveoli. For example, the breakdown of elastin is a major mechanism for the breathing difficulties suffered by people with emphysema. Which isn't to say that lozenges are likely to cause it - it's still primarily caused by inhaling irritants - just using it to illustrate how something that interferes with elastin production might affect your breathing, even if you aren't inhaling it.
• oliwarner 8y ago
  In short: Your alveoli all have blood supplies. It's the same mechanism that smoking damages your skin. Nicotine in your blood gets everywhere. It affects elastin production throughout your body. Smoking is a multi-stage attack on alveoli. You're both physically damaging them with the smoke and inhibiting their ability to regenerate. But they're a high-use tissue. Even without the additional damage, you're harming their ability to regrow.