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We usually associate smoking with high total lung capacity and emphysematous lung destruction. However, smokers also can have interstitial lung abnormalities, which typically cause restrictive lung disease. In a study that involved 2500 smokers (age range, 45–80), researchers used spirometry and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) to examine the relation between these processes. Participants' average smoking history was about 40 pack-years; smokers with pulmonary diagnoses other than asthma, emphysema, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were excluded.
The prevalence of definite interstitial lung abnormalities on CT was 8% (36% had minor interstitial abnormalities classified as “indeterminate”). Compared with participants wh…