Researchers identify mechanism underlying COPD disease persistence after smoking cessation
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - 10:01
in Health & Medicine
Cigarette smoke exposure fundamentally alters airway tissue from people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the cellular level, laying the groundwork for airway thickening and even precipitating precancerous changes in cell proliferation that may be self-perpetuating long after cigarette smoke exposure ends, according to Australian researchers.