How to Keep the Lungs Healthy

Keeping the lungs healthy means keeping them free from pollutants, irritants, and anything else that might damage them. The lungs function best when they are filled with clean air, which is rich in oxygen and free from harmful gases, chemicals, or dust particles.

The most important aspect to keeping the lungs healthy is to avoid smoking. If you are already a smoker, ask your doctor for help to quit. Cigarette smoke contains over 4000 different chemicals, at least 500 of which contribute to the formation of cancer. Smokers put themselves at a vastly increased risk of lung cancer, and the chance of developing the disease increases with every year that you smoke. As well as cancer, smoking also causes other lung problems, such as emphysema and bronchitis, and it makes chronic conditions such as asthma much worse.

It is not only smokers who suffer the damage caused by cigarettes; those around them are also affected. To keep your lungs healthy, you should avoid spending time in smoke-filled places. If you live with a smoker, ask them to go outside to smoke, and ask them to avoid smoking in the car if you are travelling with them. Any step you can take to reduce the amount of cigarette smoke that gets into your lungs will help to keep them healthier.

There are many pollutants besides cigarette smoke that damage our lungs. Emissions from vehicles and factories contain harmful chemicals which can cause cancer. If you can, avoid walking beside busy roads, particularly ones where there is stationary traffic, because the exhaust from the cars is harmful to lung health. Those who live in the countryside usually have healthier lungs than those who live in urban areas, although unfortunately not everyone has the option to live in a clean rural environment.

One thing that you can do to keep your lungs healthy is to keep your home free from irritants. Dust and pet hairs are very irritating for people with asthma, and can trigger symptoms. Vacuum floors and furniture regularly to keep them free from dust.

– If you have a pet, encourage it to stay on the floor or in its own bed rather than sharing your furniture.
– If someone in your house is sensitive to pet hair, designate part of the house as a pet-free zone to limit the affected person’s exposure to the animal’s hair.
– If you struggle to keep the air in your house clean, you could consider using an air purification system, which uses an electric fan and a filtration system to extract dust from the air.

Lung health is extremely important, as the lungs are one of the most vital organs in the body. If the lungs start to lose their function, oxygen levels in the blood will drop, causing tiredness and headaches. This can happen as a result of exposure to polluting gases, smoke, or allergens such as dust or pet hair. By making a few simple changes to your environment, you can help to protect your lungs as much as possible, which means they will hopefully stay healthy for many years to come.