Leonard Nimoy urges fans to quit smoking, reveals lung disease

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Sci-fi legend Leonard Nimoy revealed that he suffers from lung disease, even though he quit smoking 30 years ago.

Nimoy, 82, revealed on his Twitter that he suffers from COPD -- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease -- which is caused by smoking and gets worse through time.

Offering grandfatherly advice, Nimoy told his followers to "quit now!" and to "LLAP" -- his Star Trek character's famous greeting, "Live long and prosper."

The actor was spotted last month in a wheelchair at a New York hospital, attached to a breathing apparatus.

COPD is an umbrella term used to refer to a number of illnesses, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, that are caused by smoking and damage the air sacs and passages in the lungs.