It is unlikely a creme will have overall effects because while it has a lot of effects werhe it is at, if it is absorbed it is diluted over the whole body and its overall concentration becomes quite low. There can be coincedental lung problems such as a viral infection or even pneumonia that is not directly related to anything else. And, when someone quits cigarettes tehre is a series of events that occur as part of the healing process. One can have the lung heal with scar and produce pockets of lung in which gunk can collect (bronchiectasis) this is rare. Gunk starts being mobilized as part of the healing process and this can cause irritation--this is more common