Human lungs images

The blood-air barrier in the alveoli is 50 times thinner than a sheet of trace paper. This thinness facilitates faster oxygenation. Lungs form the central organs of the respiratory system and facilitate the exchange of gases along with the associated airways and blood vessels. In addition, different parts of the lungs are also involved in certain non-respiratory functions, including certain homeostatic mechanisms as well as immune processes. Human lungs are located in the thoracic cavity or chest and are enclosed within the rib cage. The two lungs are situated on either sides of the heart and are pinkish in color, especially at a young age. Exposure to the atmosphere and polluted air eventually gives rise to mottled patches, which tint the lungs gray in color. At the floor of the thoracic cavity lies the thoracic diaphragm which facilitates breathing. Each lung is enclosed inside a sac called pleura, which is a double-membrane structure formed by a smooth membrane called serous membrane. The outer membrane of this structure is called parietal pleura and is attached to the chest wall, whereas the inner membrane is called the visceral pleura, and it covers the lungs as well as the associated structures. The space between the two membranes is called pleural cavity. Lobes of the Lung Each lung is divided into anatomical and functional segments called lobes through partitions called interlobar fissures. The right lung comprises three lobes: superior lobe, middle lobe, and infer...

Your lungs work all day and night, whether you’re awake or asleep. That’s 20,000 or so breaths per day! By the time you’re 50, you have taken around 400 million breaths. Diseases like COVID-19, which can attack the lungs, shine a light on how important these organs are. They get oxygen into your blood and into every cell in your body. And they help get rid of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is toxic if you have too much. When you breathe in air through your nose, tiny hairs help rid it of dust and germs. It passes through your sinuses (hollow bony spaces around your nose and eyes), which help get air to the right temperature and moisture level. Air also enters through your mouth, especially during exercise or if your nose is stuffy. All of it goes through your throat and into your windpipe, which splits into two bronchial tubes -- one for each lung. In your lungs, each bronchial tube branches into a maze of smaller and smaller tubes. Tiny hairs inside (cilia) help trap dust and germs that you cough up, sneeze out, or swallow. The smallest tubes are called bronchioles. These end in tiny air sacs called alveoli. This is where your lungs deliver oxygen to your blood and take back carbon dioxide. Doctors call this system of tubes and sacs the bronchial tree. You have hundreds of millions of these tiny delicate sacs in each lung. Inside each one are minute blood vessels called capillaries, through which oxygen gets into your blood and CO2 is taken out. When you have lung disease --...