Mon Prof Augmenté
Smoke in the airway
Age 16 · Health
Cigarette smoke stops the tiny cilia in your airways from moving, so mucus and tar stay stuck. It also damages the alveoli, the air sacs where oxygen enters the blood, making breathing harder and raising cancer risk.
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Age 16: open this week
Browse Age 16
In the picture
- Airway cilia: tiny hair-like structures on the airway lining that normally sweep mucus upward.
- Tar and mucus: a dark sticky coating and thick fluid blocking the airway surface.
- Cigarette smoke: a gray wisp entering the airway and reaching the cilia.
- Alveoli: small air sacs, some collapsed and merged into larger holes.
Examples
- Bringing up thick mucus with a morning smoker’s cough.
- Getting out of breath sooner than usual during sports.
Key takeaways
- Smoke paralyzes cilia so mucus and tar are not cleared from the airway.
- Damaged alveoli merge into larger holes, reducing oxygen exchange and raising cancer and breathing risks.
Quiz: Smoke in the airway (Age 16)
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What happens when cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia in the airway?
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What happens to alveoli that are damaged by cigarette smoke?
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What do airway cilia normally do?
The answers, each with its explanation, are in the app. This lesson has left the free week, so its quiz is part of the subscription.
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