Did you know . . .

• Your lungs contain almost 1,500 miles of airways and 300 million alveoli
• Spread out flat, all the alveoli of an adult would cover about a third of a tennis court
• Every minute you breathe in 13 pints of air
• Plants are our partners—they breathe carbon dioxide and release oxygen and we breathe oxygen and release carbon dioxide

Without breathing, no oxygen would pass into your bloodstream tofeed and nourish all the cells in your body.

There would be no running,no laughing, no working. Withoutbreathing, there is no life.

Breathing starts with the intake of air. Between 12 to 20 times a minute you breathe in. Breathing through your nose allows the natural filtration system in your nasal passages to clean, heat, and moisturize the air. Your diaphragm and muscles in your chest and abdomen change the space and pressure inside your body to enable you to breathe. When your diaphragm is pulled down, it creates lower internal air pressure and opens more space for the lung to expand. When you inhale, your lungs in. ate like balloons.

It is a long trip from your nose to your lungs. The incoming air has to flow down the windpipe and past the voice box where the windpipe splits to funnel the air to your lungs. In your lungs, small sponge-like tubes, bronchi, branch into even smaller tubes. At the end of the smallest tubes are tiny sacs called alveoli. These air sacs make it possible for your body to exchange the carbon dioxide-ridden air for the new, oxygen-rich air you just inhaled.

Breathing—you can’t decide to stop.

Your body won’t let you.

But . . .

There are things that will take your breath away—literally. Smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. According to the American Lung Association, cigarette smoking can:

• Weaken the lungs’ abilities to defend against infections
• Change the lung enzyme balance leading to destruction of
• Cause air passages to close making breathing difficult

Chronic but controlled

Asthma is a chronic disease affecting your airways, inflaming them and temporarily blocking the small passages of your lungs, cutting down on the air flow in the lungs and making it hard to breathe. Asthma symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing. Asthma is one of the leading causes of children missing school.

According to Jeff Wilson, M.D., UI Hospitals and Clinics pulmonary specialist, viral respiratory tract infections are one of the most common causes of asthma.

Asthma cannot be cured but it can be controlled by reducing symptoms so you can lead a relatively normal life. Part of controlling asthma is understanding what triggers asthma attacks. Triggers can include cold weather, allergies, overexertion, excitement, or inherited factors. Things that bother one person may not bother another. The other part of controlling asthma includes taking prescribed medications as directed.

For more information contact pulmonary care at 319-356-8464.

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