why do lungs collapse?
460971
First of all, when you think of lung collapse it isn't the entire organ that collapses. There are tiny air sacs in the lung called Alveloi. There are numbers of these alveloi in your lung. Everybody has some of these air sacs collapsed all the time. It is very small and doesn't effect everyday life.\n\nThere are many reasons that can cause the lung to collapse. Trauma, post surgery, pneumonia or other pulmonary infections, masses or tumors, air or fluid between the chest wall and the lung. \n\nThe reason that they can 'build back up' is that the alveloi are like balloons. If you can get air back into the air sacs with breathing exercises and other measures then they open back up.\n\nHope this helps
927952
collapsed lungs have nothing to do with genetics or relation to someone that had a collapsed lung. They are caused by disease and trauma and thats about it. Yeah sure you have the possiblity of getting sick or getting in a car wreck and getting one that way but it has nothing to do with your mother's first child.
86820
The lungs are surrounded by two membranes, the pleurae. The outer pleura is attached to the chest wall and is known as the parietal pleura; the inner one is attached to the lung and other visceral tissues and is known as the visceral pleura. In between the two is a thin space known as the pleural cavity or pleural space. It is filled with pleural fluid, a serous fluid produced by the pleura.\n\nThe pleural fluid lubricates the pleural surfaces and allows the layers of pleura to slide against each other easily during respiration. It also provides the surface tension that keeps the lung surface in contact with the chest wall. During quiet breathing, the cavity normally experiences a negative pressure (compared to the atmosphere) which helps adhere the lungs to the chest wall, so that movements of the chest wall during breathing are coupled closely to movements of the lungs.\n\nThe parietal pleura is highly sensitive to pain; the visceral pleura is not. The visceral pleura has a dual blood supply, from the bronchial and pulmonary arteries. In humans, there is no anatomical connection between the left and right pleural cavities, so in cases of pneumothorax (see below), the other hemithorax will still be able to function normally.\n\nDiseases involving the pleura include:\n\n    * Pneumothorax (collapsed lung): air enters the pleural cavity, either from the outside or from the lungs. This can be the result of a penetrating chest wound, or of an internal injury. A tension pneumothorax is where the punctured chest wall forms a one way valve so that air may enter (through the puncture) on inspiration, but cannot exit on expiration. With each breath air builds up in the chest cavity, compressing the lung still further, thus reducing the surface area available for gas exchange. It is a medical emergency.\n    * Pleural effusion: fluid accumulates in the pleural space, compressing the lungs. This can result for example from lung cancer, infection or heart failure.\n    * Mesothelioma: this is a type of cancer caused by asbestos exposure.\n    * Pleurisy: an inflammation of the pleura, especially one causing painful respiration. Pleurisy can be provoked by a variety of infectious and non-infectious causes. The modern term for this is pleuritis, but the older term is still in common use.
227115
air is moved into the lungs
472694
Air is forced out of your lung through your nose suddenly.
1057005
A pathological condition of the lungs marked by an abnormal increase in the size of the air spaces, resulting in labored breathing and an increased susceptibility to infection. It can be caused by irreversible expansion of the alveoli or by the destruction of alveolar walls. \n\nEmphysema in it self very rarely is life threatening, generally infections or trapping of air causes risk to the life. Weight loose is common in this condition, but you dont bother about fat. \n\nJust maintain a healthy life style, do daily brisk walk- initially for 10 min and then increase it to max of 30 min. Have a good protein and carb rich diet, avoid smoking, alcohol, fast food, soft drinks and add raw veggies in your diet. I have not seen any body die from emphysema rather i have seen many people enjoying their life with it
1168038
First the diaphragm under the lung expands creating an area of low pressure in the lungs leading to the air from outside the body to rush into the mouth to the trachea to the bronchi to bronchi oles and then to alveoli. The lung is like a sponge and has an increasingly small system of tubes that are lined with microscopic alveoli that are lined with capillaries. When O2 molecules reach the alveoli they diffuse oppositely to carbon dioxide which is the body's waste gas. The blood cells go from the capillaries in the alveoli to venules to the pulmonary vein where it enters the left atrium and then goes to the left ventricle where it is rushed out of the heart through the aorta where it divides into other arteries, arterioles, and then capillaries.
604034
Consolidation is when an area of lung is full of infection and white blood cells go to that area to fight infection as in pneumonia or abscess. A collapsed lung--the lung tissue is surrounded by a sac--the sack has a leak-called pneumothorax--very serious,may need a chest tube inserted to re inflate lung--can happen from accident,disease, surgery, or "spontaneous from lung wall weakness
158625
Multiple reasons.  One it causes blockage in the aveoli, 2.  It paralyzes the cillia(the hairs that sweep your lungs and tubes).  3. It has carbon monoxide which then binds more tightly to your hemeglobin then oxygen.  It causes inflamation in your lungs to take place and closes off aveoli, it also increases mucus production that helps further clog up things since the Cillia that sweep away mucus are then paralyzed.
985470
Emphysema begins with the destruction of air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs where oxygen from the air is exchanged for carbon dioxide in the blood. The walls of the air sacs are thin and fragile. Damage to the air sacs is irreversible and results in permanent "holes" in the tissues of the lower lungs.\n\nAs air sacs are destroyed, the lungs are able to transfer less and less oxygen to the bloodstream, causing shortness of breath. The lungs also lose their elasticity, which is important to keep airways open.  The patient experiences great difficulty exhaling.\n\nEmphysema doesn't develop suddenly.  It comes on very gradually. Years of exposure to the irritation of cigarette smoke usually precede the development of emphysema.\n\nA person may initially visit the doctor because he or she has begun to feel short of breath during activity or exercise. As the disease progresses, a brief walk can be enough to bring on difficulty in breathing. Some people may have had chronic bronchitis before developing emphysema.
397422
Lung compliance is a measure of how elastic (how much something wants to return to its original shape) the lung tissue is. It influences both breathing in and out. When breathing in the lung needs to be able to stretch to accomodate more air. When breathing out, the compliance/elasticity  of the stretched lungs will help to force the air out. If a person has decreased lung compliance they will not be able to expel as much air when they breathe out, so they can only inhale a smaller volume of fresh air. Thus a person with decreased lung compliance takes more frequent, shallower breaths.
1015175
As one inhales air, the pressure inside the chest decreases. This is because the diaphragm lowers during inspiration and increases the volume of the chest. Lower pressure in the chest means that blood can more easily return to the chest (and therefore the heart). Therefore, during inspiration (or inhalation) there is increased venous return (blood coming back to the heart).
1171775
There are many blood vessels in the lungs, but if they burst, they seal up immediately because they are so small.  You will be fine, but you should still see a doctor because a doctor will know more than me.
155413
Emphysema\nEmphysema is one of two major lung diseases that make up COPD. The other is chronic bronchitis.\n\nEmphysema is usually diagnosed in smokers or ex-smokers (most often 50 to 75 years of age) with shortness of breath, both at rest and during physical exertion. People with emphysema may cough but their coughing isn't usually severe and does not produce much mucus. Breathing, on the other hand, may be difficult.\n\nIn severe emphysema, even very simple activities can bring on shortness of breath.  \n\nLike chronic bronchitis, emphysema, in most cases, is believed to be the result of long-term irritation or infection of the bronchial tubes. The inflammation gradually blocks the airways.\n\nIn emphysema, this blockage traps air in the tiny air sacs found at the end of the bronchial tubes. These air sacs (called alveoli) are where carbon dioxide and other waste gases in the blood are exchanged for oxygen taken in by the lungs from the air. \n\nEventually, the walls of these air sacs stretch out, become stiff instead of elastic, and break down. The lungs themselves become larger and don't exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide as well. In severe emphysema, even very simple activities can bring on shortness of breath.\n\nSmoking is the main problem for most patients with emphysema. It must be stopped if the patient is to be helped
1045185
If you have tightness in your chest as you breathe, you may have asthma and/or allergies compromising your lung capacity.  There are treatments for that but one of the best ones is to expand your natural lung capacity with gradual-paced, regular cardiovascular exercise, going slowly until you can push yourself harder...\n\nIf it isn't a breathing issue, you may want to ask about synecope (pronounced sin-EH-coh-pee).  This is what happens when your blood pressure is in the low end of the normal range, and changes in your bodily posture end up causing sudden drops in upper-body blood pressure (do you get dizzy if you have to get up *straight* to your feet in the morning from your bed?  That is the classic sign of it.).
164624
A sheep's lungs inflate like a human's does, as one, not in parts.  The diaphram flexes, pressing downward, as the external intercostals flex, moving the ribcage outward, this causes the lungs to expand.  When they expand, the air pressure inside begins to drop (Boyle's Law), and the air outside begins to rush in in order to compensate for the pressure change.  How much depends on the depth of the breath taken (usually controlled by the amount of CO2 in the body), but it all works as a single unit.
510672
It's a condition in which air leaks into the space between the lungs and the chest wall.  It is serious because it leads to lung collapse and needs to be treated.  The treatment is to insert a thin tube into that space - called "the pleural space" that is in turn attached to a device that reinflates the lungs and keeps them that way as the leak heals.  Yes, it's a bit uncomfortable, but so is dying of asphyxia!