What Everybody Should Know About Healthy Lungs
Keeping your lungs healthy goes beyond avoiding smoking. Learn more about how your lungs work and why you should prioritize lung health.
Each time you inhale, air enters your lungs and oxygen passes from your lungs into your blood. Each time you breathe out, carbon dioxide passes from your blood to your lungs and is then expelled as you breathe out. It happens thousands of times a day, and unless you have a problem with breathing, you will probably never pay attention to the process.
Our body has a natural defense system designed to protect our lungs and ward off germs. But there are still many things that can and do damage our lungs. Worse yet, it can cause irreparable damage to your lungs and you won't even know it until you have serious symptoms or problems. Strong, healthy lungs are more important than ever with concerns about COVID-19 or even the seasonal flu, but the fact remains that lung health is an essential part of health and well-being at virtually all stages of life. our life. . Therefore, taking good care of our lungs should be a priority for everyone.
It is important to understand the factors that can damage your lungs so that you can take appropriate action or change your behavior if necessary:
Smoking: By now, everyone is aware of the serious health consequences of smoking, including a significantly increased risk of lung cancer. But did you know that smoking also causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema? Smoking causes chronic inflammation, narrowing the ducts and making it difficult to breathe, and the carcinogens in cigarettes damage the spongy tissue that makes up the lungs. Over time, this damage can cause cells to behave abnormally and lead to lung cancer. The good news is that quitting smoking, even after years or decades, can lead to an immediate reduction in your risk of cancer and other conditions.
Outdoor Air Quality: During fire season, we are all well aware of poor air quality, and many of us are susceptible to the effects of polluted air, including shortness of breath, coughing, shortness of breath or dizziness. with minimal effort and more. . Although minimal exposure is unlikely to cause permanent damage, prolonged exposure can lead to asthma, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung capacity, and even cancer. While it's nearly impossible to completely avoid poor air quality, you can protect yourself by monitoring the air quality (this site provides real-time readings) and avoiding or minimizing the activities of outdoors when you are in an unhealthy area. Bring your workouts indoors, keep windows tightly closed, and consider using a HEPA filter in your home to drastically reduce the fine particles (inhalable material) that can cause so much of a problem.
Indoor Air Quality: Second-hand smoke, wood fires, dust, and even some cooking methods can seriously damage the air quality inside your home. To keep the air in your home healthy, start by keeping a clean home. Dust and vacuum at least twice a week, and wash bedding and towels at least once a week in hot water to kill mites. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products without a strong odor. Make sure your cooking zone is well ventilated and avoid cooking methods that produce a lot of smoke. Change your air filters regularly and invest in an air purification system or a HEPA filter. Finally, when the quality of the outside air is good, open the windows and let in the fresh air.
Vaping: Over the past 10 years, vaping or e-cigarettes have become extremely popular, especially among teens and young adults. But this "smokeless" alternative to cigarettes is not safe and, in fact, can cause significant lung damage. While researchers do not yet fully understand the long-term impact of vaping on health, they do know that the e-liquid that produces the inhaled vapor can contain many dangerous irritants, including diacetyl, formaldehyde, and acrolein. , all of which can damage the lungs and lead to heart disease. Most vaping products also contain vitamin E, which is perfectly safe when taken as an oral supplement or applied to the skin, but irritating when inhaled. In fact, vitamin E is found in the tissues of almost everyone with lung damage from vaping. Prolonged or prolonged vaping can also lead to bronchiolitis obliterans (also known as popcorn lung), which can cause wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, or lipoid pneumonia, a serious illness caused when the substance oily vaping causes eye inflammation. . . Ultimately, vaping may be a little less harmful than cigarettes, but it is far from safe and the serious consequences for lung health are very real.
COVID-19: Like many other respiratory illnesses, COVID-19 can cause lasting lung damage. Since the disease is so new and doctors and scientists are still learning the long-term impacts, we do not yet have a full understanding of what it will mean for people with COVID-19 during their extended recovery. and beyond. We know that the type of pneumonia associated with COVID-19 tends to affect both lungs, is usually severe, and often leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a form of lung failure that frequently requires patients are placed on a fan. Even after the disease resolves, lung damage can make it difficult to breathe and possibly exacerbate the risk of other lung problems. As more and more information about the long-term effects of COVID-19 continue to emerge, it is clear that it is more important than ever to continue to protect yourself and your family from this very disease. serious. Wearing a mask outside the home, washing your hands frequently and using hand sanitizer, avoiding crowds, and staying away from anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 are always the best measures you can take. you can take to stay healthy.
Each time you inhale, air enters your lungs and oxygen passes from your lungs into your blood. Each time you breathe out, carbon dioxide passes from your blood to your lungs and is then expelled as you breathe out. It happens thousands of times a day, and unless you have a problem with breathing, you will probably never pay attention to the process.
Our body has a natural defense system designed to protect our lungs and ward off germs. But there are still many things that can and do damage our lungs. Worse yet, it can cause irreparable damage to your lungs and you won't even know it until you have serious symptoms or problems. Strong, healthy lungs are more important than ever with concerns about COVID-19 or even the seasonal flu, but the fact remains that lung health is an essential part of health and well-being at virtually all stages of life. our life. . Therefore, taking good care of our lungs should be a priority for everyone.
It is important to understand the factors that can damage your lungs so that you can take appropriate action or change your behavior if necessary:
Smoking: By now, everyone is aware of the serious health consequences of smoking, including a significantly increased risk of lung cancer. But did you know that smoking also causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema? Smoking causes chronic inflammation, narrowing the ducts and making it difficult to breathe, and the carcinogens in cigarettes damage the spongy tissue that makes up the lungs. Over time, this damage can cause cells to behave abnormally and lead to lung cancer. The good news is that quitting smoking, even after years or decades, can lead to an immediate reduction in your risk of cancer and other conditions.
Outdoor Air Quality: During fire season, we are all well aware of poor air quality, and many of us are susceptible to the effects of polluted air, including shortness of breath, coughing, shortness of breath or dizziness. with minimal effort and more. . Although minimal exposure is unlikely to cause permanent damage, prolonged exposure can lead to asthma, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung capacity, and even cancer. While it's nearly impossible to completely avoid poor air quality, you can protect yourself by monitoring the air quality (this site provides real-time readings) and avoiding or minimizing the activities of outdoors when you are in an unhealthy area. Bring your workouts indoors, keep windows tightly closed, and consider using a HEPA filter in your home to drastically reduce the fine particles (inhalable material) that can cause so much of a problem.
Indoor Air Quality: Second-hand smoke, wood fires, dust, and even some cooking methods can seriously damage the air quality inside your home. To keep the air in your home healthy, start by keeping a clean home. Dust and vacuum at least twice a week, and wash bedding and towels at least once a week in hot water to kill mites. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products without a strong odor. Make sure your cooking zone is well ventilated and avoid cooking methods that produce a lot of smoke. Change your air filters regularly and invest in an air purification system or a HEPA filter. Finally, when the quality of the outside air is good, open the windows and let in the fresh air.
Vaping: Over the past 10 years, vaping or e-cigarettes have become extremely popular, especially among teens and young adults. But this "smokeless" alternative to cigarettes is not safe and, in fact, can cause significant lung damage. While researchers do not yet fully understand the long-term impact of vaping on health, they do know that the e-liquid that produces the inhaled vapor can contain many dangerous irritants, including diacetyl, formaldehyde, and acrolein. , all of which can damage the lungs and lead to heart disease. Most vaping products also contain vitamin E, which is perfectly safe when taken as an oral supplement or applied to the skin, but irritating when inhaled. In fact, vitamin E is found in the tissues of almost everyone with lung damage from vaping. Prolonged or prolonged vaping can also lead to bronchiolitis obliterans (also known as popcorn lung), which can cause wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, or lipoid pneumonia, a serious illness caused when the substance oily vaping causes eye inflammation. . . Ultimately, vaping may be a little less harmful than cigarettes, but it is far from safe and the serious consequences for lung health are very real.
COVID-19: Like many other respiratory illnesses, COVID-19 can cause lasting lung damage. Since the disease is so new and doctors and scientists are still learning the long-term impacts, we do not yet have a full understanding of what it will mean for people with COVID-19 during their extended recovery. and beyond. We know that the type of pneumonia associated with COVID-19 tends to affect both lungs, is usually severe, and often leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a form of lung failure that frequently requires patients are placed on a fan. Even after the disease resolves, lung damage can make it difficult to breathe and possibly exacerbate the risk of other lung problems. As more and more information about the long-term effects of COVID-19 continue to emerge, it is clear that it is more important than ever to continue to protect yourself and your family from this very disease. serious. Wearing a mask outside the home, washing your hands frequently and using hand sanitizer, avoiding crowds, and staying away from anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 are always the best measures you can take. you can take to stay healthy.
The lungs are remarkably resilient and will work overtime for you to breathe and your body to function well. However, any lung disease is serious and requires early diagnosis and treatment. Talk to your doctor right away if you or a family member has any of the following symptoms:
- A cough that doesn't go away, gets worse or produces blood.
- Chest pain that gets worse when you cough, breathe deeply or laugh
- Shortness of breath for no apparent reason
- Become much more tired than usual with minimal activity
- Loss of appetite
- Hoarseness
- Wheezing
- Chronic or recurrent bronchitis
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