The lungs come with a lifetime warranty. Maintaining them is a challenge because we expose them to toxins, viruses, bacteria and fungus with every breath we take.
Like the skin, lungs lose some elasticity as they age. You won't be able to inhale or exhale as powerfully at 80 as you did at 20, the age at which the lungs are at their peak. "The loss of elasticity over the years is insignificant," said Dr. David Solomon, a pulmonologist at Tampa General Hospital and the director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine at the University of South Florida. "The lungs are capable of taking in more oxygen than your lungs can use. The average person doesn't need to worry about it."
What you do need to worry about are pollutants that can lead to serious problems.
The most notorious pollutant is cigarette smoke, estimated to cause 87 percent of lung cancer, which the American Lung Association considers the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Smoking damages the alveoli, the delicate budlike sacs at the end of the bronchial branches, which deliver oxygen to the blood and remove carbon dioxide from it.
Smoke particles, from cigarettes and other sources, cause a chemical reaction that breaks down the walls of the alveoli, causing them to swell and merge. With less surface area for air to touch, the damaged air sacs become less efficient, causing the breathlessness characteristic of emphysema. (At least 75 percent of emphysema patients are smokers.)
In addition to damage from pollutants, the lungs are vulnerable to several other disorders.
The arteries feeding the lungs are susceptible to blood clots (or emboli) that can cause severe chest pain and shortness of breath. These clots, which often form in the legs and travel to the lungs, can be serious. The American Heart Association estimates that 600,000 Americans develop a pulmonary embolism each year, and about 60,000 of them die. Your best defense is to prevent blood from pooling in your legs by avoiding long periods of sitting, especially in cramped quarters, such as an airplane seat. In these situations you should wear compression stockings to help blood in your legs travel upwards to the heart, and stretch your legs every hour or two by walking.
If you develop congestive heart failure, your heart cannot move blood forcefully through the kidneys, which filter the blood and divert excess fluid to the bladder. As a result, fluid accumulates in the blood and forces its way into the lungs, making breathing difficult and creating an environment ripe for lung infections such as pneumonia.
Pneumonia, though more common in older people who tend to have a less robust immune system, can be deadly at any age. Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, died of pneumonia at 53, even though he had been in perfect health.
"He had a form of strep pneumonia, which is one of the most common bacterial pneumonias," said Solomon, "but it was explosive, unrelenting and it didn't respond to antibiotics."
Asthma, an allergic reaction that causes inflammation of the airways, can produce long-term lung problems.
"We're learning that respiratory difficulties at a young age make a person more susceptible to lung problems in later life," Solomon said.
How can you maintain your lungs so they continue working effectively? Older people should be especially careful to avoid cigarette smoke and other sources of air pollution. The cough reflex becomes weaker with age and the cilia - hairlike projections that constantly push pollutants upward out of the lungs - don't work as efficiently. Therefore, the elderly are less able to eject particles that could cause infections.
Seniors who undergo surgery should should try to get out of bed and walk as soon as possible because prolonged bed rest contributes to the formation of clots.
Aerobic exercise and weight lifting also help the lungs remain in good working condition.
Over the years, treatment of lung problems has improved. Antibiotics can knock out most bacterial infections, and better imaging techniques enable doctors to see problems more clearly.
Even though the lungs are built to last, they need your protection. "You almost never treat a person for aging lungs alone. It's always some disorder," Solomon said.
- Tom Valeo is a freelance writer who writes about medical and health issues. Write to him c/o Seniority, the St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail features@sptimes.com
