When you take in air through your nose or mouth, it passes through the single main airway of your throat, down into your windpipe (trachea).

At the end of the windpipe, the air flows into different passages called bronchial tubes. These tubes branch into smaller and smaller airways, eventually reaching the tiniest airways called bronchioles. These bronchioles finally come to an end at balloon-like sacs called alveoli.

Surrounding these little sacs are blood vessels, which absorb oxygen into your blood stream and remove carbon dioxide from your blood. The muscle that lies under the lungs, called the diaphragm, acts like a pump to draw in air and blow out the carbon dioxide.

Breathe in, breathe out. Simple enough, but as you can see, for those two natural acts to occur, many amazing things have to happen.

To better understand, let's take an even closer look at the lining of the bronchial tubes. There, you'll find a sticky secretion called mucus that traps dust, smoke, and other particles. Tiny hairs in the tubes, called cilia, then sweep the mucus up the airways to the throat, where it is swallowed or expelled.

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· Your lungs at work
· How your lungs work
· Why your lungs may not
   be working at their best
· Chronic Bronchitis
· Emphysema
· Asthma
· Occupational and
   Environmental Diseases
· Lung Cancer
· Smoking Cessation
· Pulmonary Rehabilitation
· Interventional Pulmonary
   Services

When you have a breathing problem, movement of the air, into and out of your lungs, is restricted and difficult. You're working too hard to take in too little air, and it feels as if you're breathing through a straw.

Why? This is what a thorough examination will find out, but, basically, it could be one or more of the following:

1. The normal flow of air is blocked by excess mucus and inflammation (chronic bronchitis).
2. The bronchial airways have collapsed (emphysema).
3. The muscles around the airways have tightened (acute asthma).
4. The lung tissue is scarred (pulmonary fibrosis).

What you feel is shortness of breath. What you may be doing is coughing, wheezing, or generally feeling weak. It is not related to your age. It is a disorder that can be diagnosed and treated. So, you can enjoy your life as fully and comfortably as possible.

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