Lungs – these are responsible for taking breaths. Most people have two except in the case of illness, injury, or accident in which case their total lung function is reduced. A fully healthy persons lungs operate at top capacity or one hundred percent. About eighty percent of the lung though is engaged in the work of every-day breathing, leaving the other twenty percent capacity for emergent situations. Emergencies can be anything from running through a smoke-filled room to diving to the bottom of an icy lake. Either way, the breath should be held in both of those cases. Other times to hold your breath include during exposure to toxins, pesticide, or other noxious environmental fumes. Reasons for this include certain hazards to health. Any one of these dangers pose a threat to human health through a significant reduction of the lungs total capacity. As a general rule, the lungs are meant to breathe air. This air, while not entirely purified, obviously should not be polluted either. Over time, repeated exposure to dust, smoke, and other toxins results in gradual reductions of total lung capacity. This is why you will almost always see chronic smokers with some form of lung condition. While most of these are permanent, cessation of irritant exposure can significantly lessen the damage done. Clues as to this will be prolonged irritant exposure and the length of the condition. If the irritant is occupational, say from construction dust, wearing a mask always helps filter out particles and so lessen the damages done. Further diagnosis comes from lung capacity functional tests and the source of irritant, if known.
Alveoli – the smallest building unit that makes up the lung. Chronic lung disease due to irritant exposure starts with the breakdown of these unit is. These are air filled spaces surrounded by thin connective tissues that also forms exchanges with blood vessels underneath. This allows the air to be taken up by the rest of the body in this fashion. In disorders of the heart and other body organs, these spaces will begin to fill with fluid. Fluid in these spaces can be heard with the use of a stethoscope. It will sound almost like a crackle down there at the base in the middle of the chest. Do not forget to listen front and back halfway down the chest. No, do not go listen for the belly. You would want to stop just above on the front and back. Midway on the chest say to the base of the lungs should be beneath the breast tissue in front and about the same height in the back. Alveoli resemble huge clusters of grapes hanging in place in the lungs when they have all been put together. If they have no fluid surrounding them to lubricate their movement within the lung and without, what you would start to hear is rales. It is almost like a high-pitched whine. If you can hear it through the naked air, well that is something else known as a closing up of the throat. It is an emergency situation from there. Probably you should evaluate the persons condition before getting additional help at that point.
Bronchioles – these connect the alveoli together like a stem does a big cluster. It is responsible for transferring air into the alveoli on the smallest possible level. From there, the bronchioles join together to form two main branches of air travel, one for each lung. We would talk about them in a minute. The bronchioles are often the most affected by disorders of airway spasming such as asthma. Asthma is often triggered on a primary level within the alveoli. Because an allergic reaction is produced, it triggers the bronchioles to begin to swell. Allergens can be anything from dust, cold air, pollen, pet hair, to larger environmental toxins like smoke and smog. The only difference is the disorder worsens upon exposure or after vigorous exercise in addition to possible allergen contact. The allergy is not life threatening at first and it only makes breathing difficult. A sufferer of this disorder may begin to find it hard to breathe or even start to cough. Prolonged coughing and gasping for breath can lead to wheezing sounds that are made as the airways have started closing up. Removing the person from the allergen and ensuring their rest is always the first line of defense. Second to that is the use of a good inhaler, obtained from a doctor, which contains a medication that makes the airways relax. Since the brain is also involved in this allergic response, it is hard at times to distinguish this from stress. It may also present very similar to other respiratory disorders. The only difference is this presentation does not usually have a productive cough. Productive coughs occur when there are things trapped inside the chest that the person just has to cough up from there. These can be anywhere from mucous to phlegm. If the cough is of relatively short duration and is also productive, an infection can usually be inferred. This will clear up after a round of antibiotics or so and a good doctor visit. On listening to the lungs, you can usually tell that somethings there from the junky lung sounds you would hear.
Bhronchi – these start off as one at the top of the chest then branch into two, one for each lung. These are responsible for carrying the air inhaled from the nose and mouth down into the chest. From there it gets to the smallest parts of the lungs to be ready for travel to the rest of the body. The lungs are found in the chest, one on each side with a space in between. Blunt force trauma to the chest can injure, puncture, or even crush the lungs. That is why when you come upon someone laying in the street and chest trauma is seen, known, or suspected, it is better to take them straight for emergency care. The larger airways like the bronchi and also the trachea are likely to be involved in severe allergic reactions as well. These occur within several hours to minutes of encountering an allergen. These can be anything from food to a substance found within the environment although this is unlikely.
Trachea – contains the vocal cords and muscles responsible for making speech. It is also connected to several brain areas that help make and shape the sound of words. Whenever older adults have weakness and difficulty swallowing things, that is because they have poor posture or weakness of the neck muscles. To avoid this, try smaller bites, sitting them upright for meals, or even cutting up the food into smaller pieces. You can even puree it in extreme cases and apply thickener to the drinks. This will assist in swallowing safely. You want the food to move past the trachea by avoiding the bronchi. Because eating and swallowing share the same basic windpipe along with breathing until you get closer to the lungs, observing these strategies are very important. There is supposed to be a flap known as the epiglottis that closes off the pathway to the lungs every time you swallow. It is located in the larynx, or the vocal cords that are in the trachea, only halfway down the neck. If the epiglottis does not work correctly due to age, weakness, or infection, food and drink can travel into the lungs creating a host of other issues. You will start to notice a productive cough along with crackles in the lungs and even some other coarser sounds as well. It will be short onset also with a fever and other symptoms of a persistent infection that does not get better but keeps on getting worse. Chances are it is a lung infection called pneumonia. Pneumonia can also be caused by several other things like viruses and stress but it is mainly going to look like this when you were advanced in age. I would suggest calling the doctor if the breathing issues are not too severe and also getting some antibiotics to treat. For worse cases, consult with the doctor to see what they recommend to be done or just you can always come in.