There are several body changes that happen as you get older that may cause a decline in lung capacity: Alveoli can lose their shape and become baggy. The diaphragm can, over time, become weaker, decreasing the ability to inhale and exhale. This change will only be significant when exercising.

Physiological factors that influence lung volumes/capacities include age, gender, weight, height and ethnicity, physical activity, altitude and others, which should be considered while interpreting results of spirometry.

FVC and FEV1 decline with age, while volumes and capacities, such as RV and FRC, increase. TLC, VC, RV, FVC and FEV1 are affected by height, since they are proportional to body size. This means that a tall individual will experience greater decrease in lung volumes as they get older.

A human’s vital capacity depends on age, sex, height, mass, and possibly ethnicity. However, the dependence on ethnicity is poorly understood or defined, as it was first established by studying black slaves in the 19th century and may be the result of conflation with environmental factors.

Girls seem to be more vulnerable than boys to the effect of smoking. Also host characteristics like atopy, bronchial hyper responsiveness and asthma are related to impaired growth of FEV1. Lower respiratory tract infections before the age of seven are also related to impaired lung growth in adult life.

Vital capacity is defined as the amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled after a deep inspiration. The lung volume increases in a taller person due to increased thorax size and increased lung size. These volumes are affected by age of person. …

Tips for keeping your lungs healthy

1. Stop smoking, and avoid secondhand smoke or environmental irritants.
2. Eat foods rich in antioxidants.
3. Get vaccinations like the flu vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine.
4. Exercise more frequently, which can help your lungs function properly.
5. Improve indoor air quality.

Lung size can be estimated from the height and sex of the patients and is termed the “predicted total lung capacity.” Taller people have bigger lungs and a man’s lungs are larger than a woman’s of the same height.

Some organs don’t scale as much as others. For instance, a taller person might have a larger colon than a shorter person, but each brain will be closer in size. “Short people tend to have relatively larger heads than tall people,” Professor Nunney said. Skin is one of those organs that doesn’t scale as much.

Size. A person’s lungs are not the same size. The right lung is a little wider than the left lung, but it is also shorter. According to York University, the right lung is shorter because it has to make room for the liver, which is right beneath it.

It can be said then, having big lungs won’t help your performance under normal exercise conditions, and having small lungs won’t hurt your performance. In fact, many elite level endurance athletes have small lungs due to their small body sizes.

Lung hyperinflation is one of the most common effects of chronic lung disease. Enlarged lungs interfere with effective oxygen exchange. Over time, heart complications can develop. If you have a chronic lung disease, your medical team is likely to look for signs of lung hyperinflation on your diagnostic tests.

The common symptom is a sudden sharp chest pain followed by pains when you breathe in. You may become breathless. In most cases, the pneumothorax clears without needing treatment. The trapped air of a large pneumothorax may need to be removed if it causes breathing difficulty.

Ways to clear the lungs

1. Steam therapy. Steam therapy, or steam inhalation, involves inhaling water vapor to open the airways and help the lungs drain mucus.
2. Controlled coughing.
3. Drain mucus from the lungs.
4. Exercise.
5. Green tea.
6. Anti-inflammatory foods.
7. Chest percussion.

Surprisingly, humming can have beneficial effects on loosening up phlegm and making it easier to spit out. Since this can be done anywhere, we recommend putting on your favorite Christmas song and humming the melody until your phlegm has been loosened and is ready to spit.

Drinking enough liquids, especially warm ones, can help your mucus flow. Water can loosen your congestion by helping your mucus move. Try sipping anything from juice to clear broths to chicken soup. Other good liquid choices include decaffeinated tea and warm fruit juice or lemon water.