Nurse Amanda Eller in North Carolina shared this video comparing the lungs of a smoker with the lungs of a healthy patient. The damaged lungs belonged to a smoker who had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, Amanda wrote on Facebook.

The difference between the two sets of lungs is immediate before she even inflates them. 

As Eller explains in the video, the lungs collapse in a way not seen in the healthy set. She says, "The elastance is gone. So they will stretch out but then the recoil of them just snaps right back because there's nothing left to hold them open."

According to the American Lung Association, Every year in the U.S., more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, making it the leading cause of preventable death in this country. Tragically, each day thousands of kids still pick up a tobacco product for the first time.

You know the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Well this video is very powerful and conveys the damage done by smoking! Many Nurses see this kind of damage in the work they do, but many don’t. Please share with your colleagues and loved ones.