Scientists: a simple way to avoid lung cancer

Giving up a bad habit, namely smoking, promotes the growth of healthy cells and eliminates mutations that lead to lung cancer.

As scientists note, it was previously believed that these changes remain forever even in former smokers. However, it has now been found that if a person quits smoking, cells that were not damaged by tobacco toxins gradually replace cells with genetic mutations.

Researchers studied tissue from 16 never-smokers who had quit smoking. They found that 96 percent of the cells in the smokers' lungs had mutations that were not present in non-smokers.

Those who quit smoking had four times more healthy cells than those who continued to smoke. The treatment effect was observed even in those who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for a long time, that is, in former heavy smokers.

Thus, the lungs are able to recover even in the most seemingly neglected cases, doctors emphasize.

Lung cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the world, which is characterized by a hidden course and early appearance of metastases. The first sign of the disease is a persistent cough. Also, in the initial stages, there is a loss of appetite, weakness and fatigue appear.