[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

in a previous life, as a respiratory therapist, my lecture about the basic changes in lung structure and function, goblet cells, mucocilliary escalator, the moring cough, suctioning the patients till the family could all come and say goodbye, then letting them drown in their own secretions, the bed and chair wetting as the patient grows older since all available oxygen must be used for the work of breathing, (and Not for walking to the bathroom), accessory neck muscle useage since the lower lungs were all scar tissue, had some effect on smokers. i am constantly nagging patients about it, because they stink, cough, are susceptible to many more upper resp infections....

i used to smoke near 3 paks a day in college, then got a job as an aerobic weight lifting instructor. i couldnt shout out the numbers like i should, so i set a date and quit. i could smell the nicotine coming out of my body when i sweated.

its a habit, and an additction, but anyone who wants to quit, can. i did, and so have thoousands of others. i hope she can. sometimes it just "clicks" taht it must be done.

good luck!!

maybe we need a smokers clinic on this board like the weight loss thread?