I'll have a side of healthy lungs with those eggs

I read a ton of study findings. The mainstream ones find their way into our news shows. Sometimes, though, the off beat ones grab my attention like this one showing, what appears to be, a link between eating large amounts of cured meat and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
COPD is the 4th leading cause of death in the US and smoking has been the only 'modifiable' risk factor ie: stop smoking and reduce your risk.
Then, along comes this study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
It finds people who at cured meats 14 or more times a month were nearly 80% more likely to develop COPD than those who ate none. Cured meats include bacon and sausage. The culprit say the researchers, the nitrites used to cure the meats. Before this study it was known that nitrites make a compound in the body that can cause damage to the lung in animal models. But what about people?
In this study more men were affected .. they also were less likely to eat an overall healthy diet. They also tended to be smokers.
So really, what does this mean for the rest of us?
Evaluate your diet and kick the smokes.
And yes, as with most studies, more study needs to be done, but you've got to admit, this is a great little study to pull out the next time you want to get an eyebrow raise out of someone.