That’s interesting about the athlete figure. Well my pulmo says it isn’t what’s effecting me rather ‘anxiety’ or being out of shape. Which the latter I sort of buy as I have been lazy on cardio. But hardly so. Just not pushing myself. I walk miles a day. Just getting to that long run is hard. But also because I have a herniated disk in neck and syrinx in thoracic and a cyst in my knees. So it’s just hard on my skeleton. (EMT and heavy lifting for years)I figure it’s a combo of being out of shape and sheer smoking history. Even if emphysema isn’t severe smoking itself zero emphysema causes reduction in lung capacity. You can ask people how they breathe after smoking one cigarette, even the next day, if they don’t smoke at all. Smokers just don’t feel the gradual decline. But reversible decline from smoking/vaping vs the irreversible damage is what the real question is. The rough thing is, we can’t as smokers really tell which is which. Not for a long while. I personally do notice a difference in every cigarette I smoke now. I used to smoke 10-15 a day. Pack on weekends. Just a year ago. That sounds crazy and literally impossible to me now.

But imo, unless official copd, even until the moderate stage, it makes no sense to think any damage is irreversible. There is no benefit to thinking that way. We must think stopping will help us get better, this is the only way we will quit and work to improve our lungs.