Smoking . . . Now we know how and why. These germs are frequently inhaled in the air we breathe and if our bronchial membranes are normal and unbroken, the seeds thus sown are brushed away by the hairlike cilia . . If, however, the membranes are roughened or abraded as a result of inflammation or coughing, these seeds may find a suitable soil and begin to develop. Wood, supra , p 100.
Smoking also predisposes to tuberculosis by causing poor nutrition and loss of weight.
Smoking lessens the appetite for food through its effects upon the adrenal glands, thus causing stored-up sugar to be released into the ciruclation. . . . Wood, supra , p 101. Wood, supra , p 102. It has long been recognized among physicians that there is a very definite relationship between tobacco and tuberculosis. Not only do the records show the users of tobacco to be more susceptible to the tubercular germ, but their recovery depends in large measure upon abstinence from the weed.