You need your lungs, so be good to them

Your lungs do an incredible job. You need them to take more than 23 000 breaths daily, which an average person at rest takes a day. They add oxygen to your blood. While it’s easy to only think about your lungs once you get sick, they deserve to be taken care of all the time.

Avoid smoke

Stay as far away from smoke and air pollution as you can. This includes cigarettes, vapes, hookahs and wood smoke. Smoke makes it harder to breathe because it narrows air passages and causes swelling in the lungs, which can trigger an asthma attack or lead to chronic bronchitis. Over time, smoke destroys your lung tissue and can activate changes that grow into cancer.

Don’t smoke or vape

Anything that regularly irritates your lungs can trigger asthma. Both cigarettes and e-cigarettes release chemicals into the lungs. Unfortunately, this doesn’t only affect the smoker. Second-hand smoke can also trigger asthma. Just over half of people who have asthma say that smoke triggers their asthma. Smoking during pregnancy, and smoking around babies or children make it much more likely that the child will develop asthma or other breathing problems.

Improve your lung capacity

Good quality sleep and regular physical activity are also important in improving overall organ health. Aerobic exercise like walking, running, swimming and cycling, can increase your lung capacity.

Eat right to lower inflammation

A healthy, balanced diet is essential to a strong immune system. Eat plenty of vegetables that are high in antioxidants, carotenoids and lycopene, as well as foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These can help lower inflammation, which helps to maintain good lung health.

How to tell if your lungs need attention

Your lungs have many ways of telling you that it’s time to take them for a visit to your Healthcare Professional. Be on the lookout for:

  • Shortness of breath during simple activities.
  • Pain in your airway or when breathing.
  • Dizziness with a change in activity.
  • Wheezing when exercising.
  • A persistent cough.

If you have any of these symptoms, visit your Healthcare Professional. Common lung diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis and asthma can be treated by most Healthcare Professionals, but you may need to see a specialist for some lung diseases.

Additional sources

World Health Organisation. Asthma: Key facts, accessed 19 July 2019
Asthma UK. Cigarette smoke, accessed 19 July 2019