Supermodel Has Emphysema

Model Christy Turlington, starring in a series of anti-smoking commercials on American and British television, has emphysema.

The 31-year-old model told The Times newspaper that she was diagnosed with early stage emphysema after undergoing a lung scan in New York.

Turlington said she smoked up to a pack of cigarettes a day between the ages of 13 and 26, with a two-year break.

"The really frightening thing is, there was enough of an effect from my smoking that it caused permanent damage,'' she said.

Turlington has become a prominent anti-smoking activist since her father's death from lung cancer in 1997.