Alois
Kolar
Before you were born, your lungs did not do much. Most of your blood bypasses them,
and wastes are removed by your mother.
As soon as you are born and take your
first breaths, changes take place in the heart that cause the circulation to
shift its course and include the lungs.
Breathing
is made possible by the flexing of a muscle called the diaphragm, which is a
sheet of muscles between the chest and the abdomen, contracts to breathe air
into the lungs and relaxes to breathe air out of the lungs.
The brain
directs the rate of inhalation and exhalation of the lungs, the brain can
quickly sense the concentration of oxygen in the air, and increases or
decreases the rate of respiration accordingly.
The air
sacs of the lungs are technically called alveoli and are tiny spongy structures
in the lung, there are approximately 300 - 600 million alveoli (depends on the source) in the lungs.
There are
enough in just one lung to cover the size of a tennis court if spread out.
You breathe
about 23.000 times in a day, inhaling about 12, 400 cubic meters of air,
weighting more than your food and drink (about 10 kg).
A baby's lungs breathe at a much higher rate than adults. According
to the SMM, babies breath about 40 to 50 times per minute. Mothers know it ;).
Chronic
respiratory (lung) diseases other than lung cancer are the fourth leading cause
of death in the United States, according the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
The American Lung Association (ALA) reports that lung cancer
is the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer, but is still the leading cause of
cancer death.
National
Geographic reports that lung cancer is diagnosed in 1.4 million people a year.
No wonder, all the cases in the courts of USA won tobacco industry ;)...
References:
- Natural science of health
- ALA
Peru, 07.01.2013
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