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Need-to-know-anatomy
COPD affects the lung's bronchial tubes, which branch from the windpipe or trachea, and the alveoli, the small air sacs where oxygen is transferred into the bloodstream to be carried to the tissues and carbon dioxide is transferred into the blood returning to the heart, to be exhaled by the lungs. The condition also affects the lining of the airways. This lining helps clean the lung tissue by producing mucus that traps particles (irritants, allergens, and infectious organisms), which are then swept up and out of the lungs by the wave motion of tiny hairlike projections called cilia. When exposed to cigarette smoke, the cilia stop moving, allowing the particles, viruses, and bacteria to remain in the lungs and cause further damage.
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