Systematic review of the evidence relating FEV1 decline to giving up smoking.

Summary: Your lungs naturally age over time, but smoking hits the fast-forward button on this process. A massive review of 47 studies tracked lung function (specifically FEV1) over an average of 11 years. The verdict is clear: smokers lose lung capacity much faster than non-smokers. However, the moment you quit, your rate of decline slows down dramatically, almost matching people who never smoked at all. It doesn't matter if you are male or female; stopping smoking saves your breath. Even if you already have lung issues, quitting puts the brakes on the damage.