Need help - Pathophysiology of the affects of smoking

Hello,

So I am working on my first Initial Assessment for practicum.. I need to write about the patho of small cell lung carcinoma, acute renal failure, and diabetes mellitus. I am working on the lung CA and I remember that my patho professor once told the class about the affects of smoking related to the lungs. He had told us that cigarette smoke, when inhaled, burns/destroys the ciliated cells of the respiratory tract and over time the cells of the resp. tract begin to compensate by producing more globular cells. I have been trying to research this but I have not been able to find anything about the cells (cilia) evolving to globular cells. Has anyone else heard about this compensation or was he over exaggerating the affects.

Aha! I found a resource the sort of supports the info I was seeking. Smoking actually paralyzes the cilia preventing it from being able to sweep away the mucus and pollutants. And the mucosal cells are actually over activated, therefore, they produce more mucus. I also got this from a reputable resource so hooray for me!