Lung Capacity and Aging
Lung Capacity
“Your lungs mature by the time you are about 20-25 years old. After about the age of 35, their function declines as you age and as a result, breathing can slowly become more difficult over time.” www.lung.org . There are several ways our bodies change as we age that causes our lung capacity to decline. The primary factors causing this decline: muscle and bone changes, lung tissue changes, and nervous system changes.
The diaphragm is the primary muscle responsible for respiration. As we age this muscle gets weaker which decreases our ability to inhale and exhale. Our rib cage also plays an essential role in our lung capacity as it protects the lungs, the heart, and all of the primary respiratory muscles. Additionally the ribcage expands as we inhale and contracts as we exhale. When we get older our ribs become thinner and even change shape. As a result it is less able to expand and contract as we breathe.
The lung tissue keeps our airways open but as we age lung tissue loses its elasticity causing some to close. Furthermore, the alveoli can lose their shape and become baggy. The alveoli are the small sacs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occur within the bloodstream.
The nervous system coordinates our actions by sending signals to and from different parts of the body, one of these signals controls our breathing. As we age signals sent from the nervous system to the lungs become less strong and not as clear.
Although aging is an inevitable part of nature there is a lot we can do to improve our quality of life as we age by taking care of our health and our bodies. There is even quite a bit we can do to improve our lung capacity and reverse some of the effects of aging (regarding our respiratory system).
Adding more calcium to your diet or taking calcium supplements can help with your bone density and help improve or slow down the deterioration of bone density in the rib cage. Calcium is also great for your muscles and nerves as it helps to strengthen them and aids the cells to work normally. To monitor or diagnose your lung capacity you can take a spirometry test simply by blowing into a device called a spirometer that measures the speed and volume of air you can exhale. This is a great tool to track your progress as well. To increase your lung capacity breathing exercises with a device like Expand-A-Lung yield the best results. The expiratory resistance in the Expand-A-Lung helps open up the airway which is great to help the areas where lung tissue has lost its elasticity.
Even more beneficial is its ability to strengthen the diaphragm through its inspiratory and expiratory resistance in addition to strengthening all other respiratory muscles. In addition to using a breathing resistance device like Expand-A-Lung you should be sure to add cardiovascular exercise to your lifestyle if it isn’t already a part of your regular routine. Anything that gets your heart rate up should do the trick if your practice a minimum of 20 minutes three times a week.
Last but certainly not least pay attention to your posture. We tend to have the bad habit of keeping a curved (hunched over) spine, this causes us to breathe from our chest and not from our bellies (diaphragmatic breathing) which can weaken the diaphragm over time. If there is one thing your could do right now to improve your lung capacity I would say start adding breathing exercises to your daily routine especially with a device like Expand-A-Lung that has variable resistance which you can increase as your respiratory muscles get stronger.
