Identify and describe three common respiratory diseases that are related to smoking. Briefly explain why health psychologists are especially interested in studying and intervening with cigarette smoking.​

1. This makes the respiratory system vulnerable to problems.
2. People cough to expel mucus, but coughing can also irritate the bronchial walls.
a. Irritated and/or infected bronchial walls can destroy bronchial tissue and damage the respiratory system.
3. Coughing, irritation, infection, and scar tissue formation in the bronchi are symptoms of bronchitis.
a. Bronchitis is included among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), aka chronic lower respiratory diseases.
b. This group of diseases is the third leading cause of death in America.
c. Infection causes acute bronchitis, typically resolved readily by antibiotics.
d. Persistent irritation and its underlying cause result in chronic bronchitis.
e. While occupational and environmental exposure to pollutants can underlie chronic bronchitis, cigarette smoke is the most major cause.
4. Emphysema is the most common type of COPD.
a. When airways are blocked by mucus and scar tissue, the bronchi lose elasticity and collapse, trapping air in the alveoli (air sacs in the lungs where gas exchanges occur).
b. Trapped air breaks down alveolar walls, damaging and destroying alveoli, and causing enlargement of those left.
c. Damage to and enlargement of alveoli impairs oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, and restricts blood flow to intact alveoli.
d. As the respiratory system loses efficiency, less oxygen is delivered through breathing.
e. People with emphysema have trouble breathing. They typically are unable to engage in strenuous physical activity.
5. Lung cancer is another serious disease of the respiratory system.
a. The irritation and damage caused by inhaling smoke is the most major factor in the development of lung cancer.
B. Health psychologists are especially interested in studying and intervening with cigarette smoking.
1. This is because air pollution and occupational exposure are social problems that people cannot personally control directly, but smoking cigarettes is a voluntary behavior that people can choose to engage in or not.
The voluntary nature of smoking makes it the recipient of negative publicity and interventions to help people quit.