Doctor explains whether black lungs from smoking can ever turn pink again after question from patient

Smoking comes with significant risk, not that it stops a lot of people.

Packaging of tobacco products have carried graphic images of the damage and consequences smoking can have on the body in the United Kingdom since 2008, the year after a ban on smoking in public places came into effect.

One of the most unnerving images that might make even the most seasoned smoker pause for thought is that of a pair of cold lungs flopped on a mortuary table, only recognisable by their shape and not their colour.

That's because they have instead turned grey and putrid due to the effects of inhaling smoke.

It can be a startling image that can inspire some people to finally kick the habit but, even if they go smoke-free, those black lungs can never be pink again, according to an expert.

Though that doesn't mean quitting can't be great for the organs.

Smoking isn't good for the lungs (Getty Stocks)

The impact of quitting smoking on the lungs

Warren Bezos is a physician who studied at the University of Oxford and he shared an experience of one of his long-term patients coming to see him for a lung scan.

The patient had quit smoking after years and, with a look of worry etched on his face, asked if his lungs would ever go back to their original state.

And the answer is no. You can't go back to black, no matter what Amy Winehouse sang.

"Can "black lungs" turn pink? No, not really," Bezos wrote on Quora.

But, that's not all bad news, as the American explains that the image of 'black lungs' made notorious by warnings to stay away from cigarettes is actually a 'little misleading'.

Bezos explains that healthy lungs always have a pink colour to them and that carbon deposits can't be removed from the lungs once they have embedded in the tissue, but that doesn't mean they aren't getting better when a person quits smoking.

In fact, they can start healing within a matter of days.

"The amazing thing about that process is how the lungs react after smoking cessation," Bezos wrote.

Lungs can't be pink again (Getty Stock)

"Within days after giving up smoking, ciliated epithelium in the airways starts recovering its natural functions.

"Cilia become more active in cleaning mucus, dust, and any other dangerous substance from the lungs."

The longer someone goes without a cig, the more improvements they will start to see in their health and wellbeing.

'That doesn't mean quitting isn't still worth it'

He continued: "Later, patients start coughing less, breathe easier, and become less exposed to lung infections, heart disease, stroke, and several types of cancer.

Some side effects from smoking may never go away, but that doesn't mean quitting isn't still worth it for all the other benefits.

"Although some diseases caused by smoking, like emphysema, remain forever, the human body has great potential for regeneration," Bezos added.

Bezos explains that some of the biggest transformations he sees in patients aren't just a better-looking lung scan but their increased capacity for physical activity like climbing stars, playing with grandchildren and waking up without coughing those same lungs up.

So even if your lungs can't be 'pink' again, they can definitely recover their functions, which is great to hear for some of us.