Each year, about three hundred thousand persons die on account of diseases attributable to tobacco smoking.

“Vibrating cilia” are what the tiny hairs on the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract are called. Their job is to keep the tract clean by transporting foreign bodies and mucus back to the mouth. How effective are they? At a world conference held in Düsseldorf, Germany, reports were presented on various methods of measuring the hairs’ activity. According to the German scientific journal Spectrum der Wissenschaft, the vibrating cilia of a healthy person can transport foreign substances a distance of from 1.5 to 2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 in.) a minute. The magazine goes on to say that ‘the efficiency of the vibrating cilia in persons suffering from chronic bronchitis is reduced to a fourth or a fifth of what is normal.’ But there is something else that burdens the busy hairs even more. Explains the scientific journal: ‘A deep breath burdened with tobacco smoke stops their activity for as long as a full 60 minutes!’