Lung capacity is the ability of the lungs to accommodate air when breathing. Decreased and increased lung capacity can have an impact on your health condition. Check out more in the following review!
Under normal circumstances, both lungs can hold as much as 6 liters of air. As you age, your lung capacity and function will decrease after entering the age of 35 years.
Some changes in the body that occur naturally with increasing age can indeed cause a decrease in lung capacity. This can have an impact on breathing, where sufferers will find it a little more difficult to breathe.
As we age, the diaphragm muscles become weak, the elasticity of the lung tissue that helps open airways can also be reduced, so that the respiratory tract becomes narrower. Likewise with the movement of the ribs which become more limited due to age, so the lungs are less able to develop optimally.
Medical Conditions Related to Decreased and Increased Lung Capacity
Apart from age, there are several conditions associated with decreased lung capacity. This condition is a restrictive lung disease, a condition when the lungs cannot store too much air. The ability of the lungs to store air is influenced by external and internal factors in the body.
Some of the factors in the lung organs that cause decreased lung capacity include pneumonia, pleural effusion, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, decreased lung volume after lung surgery, lung swelling, nerve damage to the respiratory muscles, interstitial lung disease, and scoliosis. Under normal conditions, lung tissue is flexible and can expand and deflate well to support the respiratory process. However, in the medical conditions mentioned above, a person will find it more difficult to breathe because the damaged lung tissue has decreased elasticity, or because of problems with the respiratory muscles so the body is unable to breathe maximally.
The capacity of the lungs can also increase. This condition can occur in obstructive pulmonary disease. Some medical conditions are related to increased lung capacity, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis. These conditions make the air move out more slowly than usual, so that it feels more difficult when exhaling. Patients also tend to experience shortness of breath when undergoing strenuous activity.
Measuring lung capacity
To find out the amount of lung capacity, the method often used is spirometry. Spirometry is a test to measure how much air can be exhaled maximally in one breath. This test is performed by a doctor using a spirometer.
Spirometry can be used to help diagnose medical conditions related to the lungs, or when your doctor suspects that you have a lung-related illness. In addition to undergoing physical and supportive examinations such as chest X-rays, your doctor may also recommend that you do a spirometry test if you have symptoms of coughing or shortness of breath that are persistent and don't heal, or if you are over 35 years old and heavy smokers.
Some conditions that can be identified from spirometry tests include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary fibrosis. Spirometry can also be done to check the severity of the condition or see the development of your condition after undergoing treatment.
How to Maintain Lung Capacity
Decreased lung function is a normal part of the aging process. Even so, there are steps you can take to strengthen your lungs, including:
- Apply an active life, especially physically active with regular exercise. You can do various exercises to strengthen lung function and capacity, such as diaphragm muscle breathing exercises, breathing techniques from the mouth, and rib stretching exercises.
- Stop smoking and avoid exposure to cigarette smoke and environmental pollution.
- Apply a healthy diet with a lot of intake that contains antioxidants.
- Improve indoor air quality. Use an air filter in the room and reduce pollutants, such as artificial fragrances, cigarette smoke, mold, and dust.
- Make sure you get timely vaccinations, such as the flu vaccine and pneumonia vaccine. This can help prevent damage from lung infections.
Although the decrease in lung capacity due to age can make breathing a bit heavier, but stay alert if there is difficulty breathing or shortness of breath accompanied by a long cough and does not heal. If you have respiratory problems, do not hesitate to consult with a pulmonary specialist to get the examination and the right treatment
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