For millions of Americans dealing with chronic coughing, chest tightness, and the suffocating sensation of mucus that never fully clears — the standard answer has always been the same: use your inhaler, try a steroid, take Mucinex.
And for most people, nothing truly changes.
The wheezing returns. The congestion rebuilds. The nights are still interrupted by coughing fits that feel like something is physically blocking the air from getting through.
— Observation referenced in peer-reviewed pulmonary research
According to findings published in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, there exists a largely ignored biological mechanism that operates quietly inside the airways of people suffering from chronic respiratory distress.
It's called NETs — Neutrophil Extracellular Traps.
The name is clinical. The reality is visceral: these are microscopic, sticky, web-like protein structures — produced by your own immune system — that accumulate in your airways and physically trap mucus inside your lungs.
Here's what makes this discovery particularly unsettling: your body creates these traps on purpose. NETs are a legitimate immune defense mechanism — designed to catch and neutralize bacteria, viruses, and airborne particles before they reach your bloodstream.
The problem begins when your body produces them in excess. And according to researchers, that excess is being triggered by things hiding