Exercise, Smoking, and Asthma

This lesson covers: 

  1. How exercise helps your lungs
  2. What asthma is and how it feels
  3. Why smoking is bad for your lungs

The impact of exercise on breathing

When we exercise, our bodies need more oxygen to keep our muscles moving.

This makes us breathe faster and deeper, pulling more air into our lungs.

Cartoon illustration of a person riding a bicycle.

Benefits of regular exercise include:

  • Stronger breathing muscles for better chest expansion.
  • Increased lung capacity for more air intake.
  • More blood vessels in the lungs for better oxygen use.
  • An increase in alveoli numbers, boosting the oxygen supply to our blood.

Asthma

Asthma is a condition where someone's airways get very sensitive and narrow.

This can be triggered when they come into contact with things like pet hair, dust, or smoke.

Diagram comparing a wide normal airway with a narrow asthmatic airway.

An asthma attack can feel like:

  • Having trouble breathing.
  • Wheezing when breathing out.
  • Feeling a tightness in the chest.


Using an inhaler, which contains medicine, can help relax the airways and make breathing easier during an asthma attack.

The impact of smoking on the respiratory system

Cigarette smoke is full of harmful stuff like carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar and particulates.

Diagram showing the impact of smoking with illustrations of carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar, and particulates.

Carbon monoxide:

  • This takes the place of oxygen in your blood, so less oxygen gets to your organs and muscles.
  • It can make you feel tired and can harm your heart and brain over time.


Nicotine:

  • This is addictive making it difficult to give up smoking once you start.
  • It increases heart rate and blood pressure, making your heart work harder.


Tar:

  • This sticks to the tiny hairs in your airways, leading to a build-up of mucus and coughing.
  • Long-term, it leads to diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema.
  • It is carcinogenic and causes lung cancer.


Particulates:

  • These irritate airways causing a build-up of mucus.