Smoking Effects Said to Be Permanent

While it is never too late to quit smoking, some effects of the habit are permanent and irreversible, a consumer group said. Smoking for as little as five years damages virtually every organ in the human body, the American Council on Science and Health, a nonprofit consumer group, said. “We don’t want to dishearten or depress smokers--quitting is always healthier than smoking,” Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, the council’s president, said. But, according to the group, smoking does permanent damage to the lungs, heart, eyes, mouth, throat, digestive organs, genital tract and skin.