Human lungs

The lungs are one of the most important and mysterious organs in the human body. Together with an expert, we will figure out where the lungs are in a person, how they look and how they work, and also find out what the pain in the lungs indicates when breathing

A person cannot exist without breathing, and therefore without lungs. This is one of the paired organs of the human body, it is also the most voluminous, but not the heaviest. The lungs got their name in Russian because of a unique property – unlike other human organs, they do not sink in water.

What is important to know about the human lungs

Lung weight	On average, the lungs of men weigh 840 grams, women – 640. The right lung is slightly heavier.
Lung size	Average height: for men 27,1 cm (right) and 29,8 (left), for women – 21,6 (right) and 23 cm (left). Width on average: for men – 13,5 cm right and 12,9 cm left, for women – 12,2 cm right, 10,8 left.
Lung function	1) Gas exchange – supply oxygen to the blood, remove carbon dioxide. 2) Support of acid-base balance. 3) Participation in thermoregulation (they work like an air conditioner that moisturizes and warms the air that has entered them). 4) Participation in the regulation of water balance (about 0,5 liters of water per day evaporate through the lungs). 5) Help to remove toxins. 6) Participate in voice formation (sound is formed due to the air flow exhaled from the lungs). 7) Protection and cushioning of the heart from shock damage. 8) Become a barrier to many infections. 9) They serve as a kind of reserve of blood (the lungs can contain about 400 ml of blood – this volume is enough for the body to compensate for blood loss).
The volume of the lungs (the amount of air passing through them)	Maximum – 6 liters. On average – 3-4 liters. And normally, with a calm inhalation and exhalation, approximately 450-500 ml is used. An important indicator is the vital capacity of the lungs. This is the maximum volume of air that can be exhaled after the deepest breath. It depends on the height, age, physical activity of a person.
How much air passes through the lungs per minute	About 7-8 liters. During physical activity, it can increase by 7-10 times.
Normal number of breaths	14-20 breaths per minute.

By the way

Lung capacity can be affected by various factors and circumstances. So, people of high stature, non-smokers, living in the mountains, have more lung capacity. And for short, smokers, living at sea level, as well as for the elderly, it is less.

Where are the human lungs

The lungs are located in the chest cavity. In the neighborhood on the right below is the liver. Above and to the left – the heart, below – the stomach. Under the lungs is the diaphragm, which separates the chest and peritoneum.

The chest cavity, in which the lungs are located, is lined with mucous tissue – the pleura and is called the pleural cavity. The lung itself is covered with the same fabric.¹.

What do human lungs look like?

The lungs have an irregular conical shape and, as we have already found out, a different volume. The right lung has a larger volume, but the left one is longer and narrower – the heart “pressed” it a little.

The number of lobes that make up the lung is also different: the right has three, the left has two. The shares are divided into segments. Each segment has one segmental bronchus and one branch of the pulmonary artery.

The main structural elements of the lungs, thanks to which we breathe:

bronchi – continuation of the trachea inside the lungs;
alveoli – tiny pulmonary sacs in which gas exchange occurs – a vital process between blood and inhaled air. The number of alveoli in one lung is about 300-350 million;
bronchioles – branches of the bronchi that distribute the air flow.

The thickness of the lungs is pierced by the bronchi, which, moving away from the center to the periphery, are divided into ever smaller branches. Hence the name: tracheo-bronchial tree. Air moves through the bronchi, like pipes, during inhalation and exhalation. And gas exchange between blood and air is carried out directly in the lung tissue itself, in its minimum functional unit – the acinus, which consists of the smallest branch of the bronchus and pulmonary vesicles (alveoli), which, like leaves, are located on this branch.

How do human lungs work?

When inhaling, air first enters the trachea, from there it is delivered through its branches (bronchioles) to numerous alveoli. These microscopic vesicles are covered by a network of capillaries. It is through them that blood with a high content of carbon dioxide enters the alveoli. And it is in these tiny air bubbles that carbon dioxide moves into the air, and oxygen moves into the blood. Through the pulmonary vein, oxygen-enriched blood enters the heart, and from there it is distributed through the arteries through the vessels that feed all human organs and tissues. The lungs themselves expand when inhaling and contract when exhaling.

In the mechanism of inhalation and exhalation, not only lung structures are involved. Let’s start with the fact that the process is controlled by the respiratory center of the brain, sending impulses to the muscles. When inhaling, the external intercostal muscles contract. The ribs rise, the chest expands, making it possible for the lungs to “turn around” that increase in volume. The diaphragm also gives way to them, dropping down during inhalation.

And when you exhale, the ribs fall, the chest narrows, and the diaphragm relaxes and rises.

By the way

During physical exertion, training, breathing quickens. It turns out that this is due to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide – CO2 is actively formed in the blood. This has an exciting effect on the respiratory center, and the respiration quickens reflexively.

Why can a person’s lungs hurt

As explains PhD, pulmonologist Irina Chibisova, the lungs themselves cannot hurt, since they do not have nerve endings. In medicine, there is an important syndrome – chest pain syndrome. During the examination, the doctor clarifies the source of this pain.

What can hurt in the chest?

Muscle pain

Muscle pain can be quite intense, prolonged, aggravated by tilting to the healthy side, palpation, sneezing and coughing.

Intercostal neuralgia

With intercostal neuralgia, the pain can be quite intense, aggravated by tilting to the affected side, palpation, deep breathing, coughing.

Pain in the ribs

Pain in the ribs can be caused not only by a fracture or severe bruising, but also by bone metastases. Pain can range from mild to severe.

Pain in the pleura

The pleura is such a “film” that lines the ribs from the inside and separates the lungs from the inner surface of the chest wall. The pleura contains a huge number of nerve endings, so when it is damaged, pain can occur.

Pleural pain is one of the most pronounced. The pain is intense, relieved when a person lies on a sore side, sharply intensifies when breathing, coughing and sneezing.

Other reasons

Also, pain in the chest can be caused by heart disease (and this cause must be excluded in the first place), pathologies of large vessels, the esophagus. Pain can radiate from other internal organs – the gallbladder or pancreas.

How are human lungs treated?

Any treatment begins with a diagnosis. To identify pulmonary pathology, doctors prescribe x-rays, for a more detailed examination – computed tomography of the lungs. Each of these methods has its own indications, but in the 21st century, no elective chest surgery will begin without a preliminary CT scan of the lungs.

Therapeutic treatment

Lung diseases are therapeutic and surgical. Therapeutic (family doctors, internists, pulmonologists, phthisiatricians) are bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, occupational diseases, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and others. Various medications are prescribed for their treatment.

Surgery

If the disease is not amenable to medical treatment, surgical methods are used. Indications for lung surgery: abscess, cancer, pleural empyema, pneumothorax, exudative pleurisy, mechanical trauma and much more.

Often, without a biopsy, a pulmonologist cannot make an accurate diagnosis, so an operation is prescribed for the purpose of diagnosis.

According to the indications, one of the lungs can be completely removed, or a partial excision can be performed when one or more lobes or a certain part of the organ is cut out.

operations

Operations on the lungs are both traditional, with a wide incision of the chest, and thoracoscopic. In this case, several small incisions are sufficient, through which the necessary instruments are inserted and the operation is performed.

Thoracoscopic method can cut out part of the lung or one lobe. But if the removal of the lung is required for cancer, cysts, severe purulent processes, then a traditional surgical operation is performed. Cryodestruction, radiosurgery, laser surgery – all these are modern methods of thoracic surgery.

Puncture of the pleural cavity

A puncture of the pleural cavity is a surgical procedure during which a drainage tube is inserted through a small incision to remove fluid from the lungs and to administer medication. Through a puncture, which is done with a special needle, the surgeon can remove pus or accumulated blood from the lung cavity.

Lung transplant

The most difficult operation, during which a complete or partial replacement of a diseased lung with a donor organ is done. A lung transplant can be the only salvation when it comes to advanced disease (COPD, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension), which is not amenable to any treatment. But, for example, a person who smokes will be denied transplantation. Malignant neoplasms, overweight, concomitant serious diseases will also become a contraindication to lung transplantation.².

How to keep your lungs healthy at home

Since the lungs do not hurt, problems in them are often found during a physical examination. Therefore, it is very important to perform an annual fluorography or plain radiography. If you are a smoker, then once a year you need to perform spirometry – this is a quick and absolutely painless method for examining important indicators of the respiratory system.

Prevention is always more effective than cure. It would not be out of place to once again recall the dangers of smoking, including passive smoking, which causes enormous damage to health.