Functions of the Lungs

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• QHow does our respiratory system work?

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  A Discovery Health answered

  Human beings breathe in about 35 pounds of air each day, through approximately 20,000 breaths.

  After we take in air, it passes past the pharynx and larynx and down the windpipe, or the trachea. After that, the trachea comes to a fork in the road and then splits into two parts into the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes carry air into each lung. Along the way, cilia and mucas clean up the air before it is deposited into the lungs.

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• QHow do the lungs protect themselves from dust and dirt in the air?

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  A Jumo Health answered

  To protect themselves from dust and dirt in the air, the lungs produce mucus. Mucus traps the dust and dirt so that it gets coughed up and out of the lungs. Breathing in dust, dirt and other particles in the air can damage the lungs, but luckily they're pretty good at keeping themselves clean and healthy. 

• QWhat function do the lungs perform?

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  A Dr. Claudia I. Henschke, MD , Diagnostic Radiology, answered on behalf of The Mount Sinai Health System

  Absorbing oxygen from the air through the process of inhalation, the lungs bring oxygen into the bloodstream, which carries oxygen to the rest of the body. The cells of the body release carbon dioxide as they use oxygen. This is carried back to the lungs by the veins. The carbon dioxide leaves the lungs when the lungs exhale. Most of the cells in the lungs are called epithelial cells. These line the airways and produce mucus, which lubricates and protects the lungs.

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• QHow do the right and left lung differ?

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  A National Athletic Trainers' Association answered

  The right lung has three lobes, and the left lung has two. The left lung also has a cardiac notch, where the heart sits. (This answer provided for NATA by the University of Montana Athletic Training Education Program.)
• QWhat happens to the lungs as we age?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  Unfortunately, as we age, structural changes occur in the lungs and other components of the respiratory system: They lose some of their elasticity, the chest wall stiffens, the alveoli's surface area decreases, and your respiratory muscles weaken. The result: a measurable decrease in airflow. Add on the fact that lung problems like asthma or bronchitis can restrict airflow by making the bronchial passages functionally narrower, and you can soon find yourself with more breathing problems.
• QWhy do I need an x-ray to see my pleural effusion?

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  A Reston Hospital Center answered

  A chest x-ray may help to determine the extent of the pleural effusion. Sometimes an effusion may become loculated, which mean it has become encased in a membrane or within certain areas surrounding the lung. A chest x-ray can help your doctor to determine if this has occurred. Additionally, a chest x-ray may also be able to pick up a lung cancer, or other lung diseases that may be causing the pleural effusion.

• QWhat is the capacity of an average set of lungs?

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  A Pam Grout , Alternative & Complementary Medicine, answered

  Your lungs are capable of holding up to seventeen pints of air per breath. When you breathe in only two or three pints - which is the average for the adult American - you interfere with the magnificent tool your body has handed you. They're capable of taking in seventeen pints of oxygen because that's how they work best.

• QWhat are the lungs made of?

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  A Dr. Paul M. Ehrlich, MD , Allergy & Immunology, answered

  The lungs are composed of various specialized cells and tissues -- not just simple tubes or pipes. Lining them are epithelial cells with specialized hairs, or cilia, which help trap particles and prevent infection from reaching the lungs. They also help push foreign and waste matter out of the lungs when necessary. Beneath these cells is the "basement membrane" that forms a firm foundation for the epithelial cells, and under that is looser tissue full of mucous glands and other specialized cells such as eosinophils, mast cells, lymphocytes, and white blood cells called polys. Under this layer is smooth muscle.
• QWhat happens when lungs are diseased?

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  A Columbia University Department of Surgery answered

  When lungs become diseased, they no longer can maintain the necessary exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. A number of diseases and conditions can cause lungs to become so dysfunctional that one or both of them may need to be replaced through transplantation.