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A member asked:

I quit smoking 20 years ago are my lungs still damaged?

3 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Dr. Andrew Lipton answered

Specializes in Holistic Medicine

Smoking: Risk of lung cancer from smoking returns to normal after 10 years of not smoking.

Dr Rishton agreed

Answered 8/2/2019

4.9k views

Thank

It depends: It is great that you quit and have stayed abstinent for 20 years. The cells in your lungs are all new ones after 7 years of not smoking. However, if there was any scarring, those cells will not be replaced with healthy ones.

Answered 4/13/2020

4.9k views

Thank

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