A short video shared online is forcing many smokers to pause and look twice. Florida-based surgeon Dr David Abbasi took to Instagram on January 4 with a blunt message about what smoking does to the body over time. No filters. No soft language. Just facts.
Dr Abbasi, who specialises in sports medicine, shared the video with a caption that left little room for comfort. “What happens when you smoke every day for 50 years. Send this to your friend who smokes.” The message was clear. The damage may feel distant, but it is very real.
What decades of daily smoking actually do to your lungs and chest
In the video, Dr Abbasi explained how daily smoking over decades changes the chest and lungs in ways most people never see until it’s too late. The harm doesn’t arrive overnight. It builds slowly. Quietly. He said the damage might seem invisible for years, but the biological impact is “progressive and often irreversible”.
He broke it down further, explaining what happens inside the body. “Decades of daily smoking cause progressive and often irreversible damage to the chest and lungs. Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke leads to chronic inflammation, loss of lung elasticity, reduced oxygen exchange, and destruction of healthy lung tissue.” These changes affect how the lungs move, how oxygen travels, and how the body functions overall.
Why smoking damage builds quietly and becomes hard to reverse
One of the most dangerous aspects of smoking is how silent the damage can be. Dr Abbasi highlighted that symptoms often take time to show. By the time breathlessness, fatigue, or chest issues appear, the internal damage is already well underway.
As smoking continues, the cumulative impact grows heavier. “Over time, this significantly increases the risk of COPD, lung cancer, heart disease, and reduced quality of life.” The body adapts for a while, but it cannot repair everything. Some damage, once done, stays.
How smoking turns into a preventable health crisis over time
Dr Abbasi’s message was not just about shock value. It was about prevention. He stressed that many of the conditions linked to smoking develop slowly, which gives people a false sense of safety. “While symptoms may develop gradually, the underlying damage begins early, making smoking one of the most preventable causes of serious disease and early mortality.”
The takeaway was simple. The earlier the habit stops, the better the outcome. Smoking may feel routine today. But the body remembers everything.
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