Bronchospasm is a sudden constriction in the terminal airways of the lungs, resulting from the contraction of smooth muscles in the walls of the bronchi. The narrowing of the bronchi is the major pathological feature that constitutes an asthma...
Breathing, the inspiration and expiration of air from the lungs, involves a number of tissues. Breath is inhaled through the nose or mouth, travels down the larynx and into the tubes of the lungs, which are called the bronchi and bronchioles. Air...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2008, 16.4 million American adults and 7 million children currently have asthma. That is equivalent to 7.3 percent of the adult population and 9.4 percent of children. In 2006,...
The anatomy of the lungs can be broken down into the structures that compose the airway. The main units of the airway include the larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli. Inside lung tissue, the circulatory system and the respiratory...
While smoking exacerbates existing conditions such as asthma and allergies, it also creates many other serious breathing problems. The act of smoking places stress on the airways and lungs in ways that cause both short-term and chronic health...
The lungs are a paired set of organs in your chest that bring oxygen-rich air into your body and allow you to get rid of a cellular waste product called carbon dioxide. Your lungs also perform a supporting role in your body's regulation of the...
Breathing is a mechanical process that humans perform automatically, meaning the muscles involved perform the action without conscious effort. Breathing is performed by the respiratory system, which consists of the lungs, trachea, bronchi and...
The lungs contain a series of airways, called bronchi and bronchioles, which carry air from the mouth down into the lungs. The bronchi and bronchioles contain a number of specialized cell types, including airway-lining cells called epithelial...
Healthy lung tissue provides the exchange surface for blood and the gases in alveoli. The alveoli are the final structures enabling the transfer of gases between lung tissue and blood. When lung tissue is damaged from chronic obstructive pulmonary...
It is the job of your lungs to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide, because all of the cells in your body must have oxygen to provide them with the energy that they need to do their work. Carbon dioxide is a waste product that must be removed. Yet...
Your body changes in many ways when you exercise -- usually, these are healthy responses. Your body is equipped to deal with the stresses it is put under. Your respiratory rate is one of the physical attributes that change during exercise,...
Pulmicort Flexhaler is an inhaled corticosteroid used in the management of asthma in children and adults. It is not used in the treatment of an asthma attack; instead, it is used to maintain normal airway function. Pulmicort is a corticosteroid...
The lungs are part of the respiratory system, the bodily system that controls breathing and the exchange of air between the body and the environment. According to the Nemours Foundation, people breathe 20,000 times every day, and all of the oxygen...
When a person breathes, the air travels through the nose or mouth and into the larynx. From the larynx, air moves into the trachea, which divides into a left and right bronchus, large tubes that supply the air to the lungs. Each bronchus further...
The lungs contain a branching system of airways leading to the air sacs, where gas exchange occurs. Each branch division gives rise to narrower airways, akin to branching tree limbs. The bronchi are the larger airways of the lungs. Infections,...
According to Pierre Theodore, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, although many of the congenital lung diseases will be noticeable early in a child's life, most of them will not be detected until either late...
The simple act of breathing requires no conscious attention; most of the time, you don't even realize you're doing it. But when breathing becomes difficult, there are few things you can focus on other than the movement of air into your lungs....
Albuterol sulfate is a prescription medication administered as an oral tablet, an oral syrup, an oral extended-release tablet, an inhaled product and a nebulized product. It is indicated for the prevention and treatment of spasms of the bronchi....
Children are often afflicted with diseases that cause breathing problems. These respiratory diseases can cause distress for both you and your child. Breathing problems in children may develop delays in physical and mental development....
The bronchi, which are part of your respiratory tract, are the tubes that carry air from your nose into your lungs. If they become irritated by viruses or pollutants, you could develop acute or chronic bronchitis --- an inflammatory infection of...
The lungs are the primary organs of respiration, which consists of ventilation and gas exchange in the lungs and oxygen transport to the cells of the body. Cedars-Sinai Hospital notes that on average, a normally active person breathes almost...
The lungs are a component of the group of tissues in the body known as the respiratory system. The lungs bring fresh air containing oxygen into the body, and breathe out unabsorbed and waste gases. Each cell in a person's body requires oxygen to...
Bronchial asthma is a disease that causes swelling and obstruction of bronchi, or the air passages of the lungs. Over 300 million people worldwide suffer from the disease, and it is the most common chronic disease among children, according to the...
Bronchoalveolar carcinoma is a cancer of the epithelial cells within the lung and is considered a type of non-small cell lung cancer that develops within the airways. The cancer develops due to genetic mutations in epithelial cells within the...
Hemoptysis is the medical term for coughing up blood. The blood can be mixed with mucus or be pink and bubbly, or bright red. The Mayo Clinic says coughing up a little bit of sputum tinged with blood is not uncommon and usually doesn't...
Bronchial infection arises in your bronchi, the part of your airway that connects your trachea with your lungs. Sometimes it follows a viral or bacterial infection that spreads down from your nose or sinuses into your bronchi. Goldenseal is a...
Runners are a dedicated bunch: they'll run in the pouring rain, when it's below freezing and when it's blazing hot. They often feel that they need to run even when they're injured or feeling under the weather. They don't want to miss a single run...
Combivent is a medication that consists of a formulation of two separate medications. They include albuterol, which acts as a dilator of the bronchi of the lungs, and ipratropium, which also works to dilate the bronchi via a different chemical...
In 2008, about 21 percent of all adults were current smokers, according to the American Lung Association, despite the fact that every pack of cigarettes comes labeled with a warning about the adverse effects of smoking on health. With each...