Lungs

Learn the ins and outs of your lungs

• The surface area of an adult lung is approximately the size of one side of a tennis court.
• The average adult breathes 12 to 20 times in a minute, or 23,000 times a day.
• Lungs are the only organs that float.
• The lung on your left side is smaller than the one on your right.
• Unlike many other organs in your body, the lungs are made of delicate tissues that are affected by anything you inhale—germs, smoke, chemicals, etc.
• Your diaphragm, located just below your lungs, squeezes, which allows the lungs to get bigger and air to come in.
• Regular Checkups:  Lung disease sometimes goes undetected until it is serious and more difficult to treat. Regular checkups help prevent disease because they detect any issues or concerns on a routine basis, hopefully before anything becomes serious.
• The American Cancer Society’s estimates for lung cancer in the United States for 2013 are:  
  About 228,190 new cases of lung cancer (118,080 in men and 110,110 in women).  
  An estimated 159,480 deaths from lung cancer (87,260 in men and 72,220 among women), accounting for about 27 percent of all cancer deaths.
• Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
• Ways to Prevent Lung Infection: Wash your hands, be extra careful around crowds during the cold and flu season, brush your teeth twice a day, visit the dentist regularly, get your influenza or pneumonia vaccination each year, if you are sick, protect those around you by staying home until you feel better.
• Don’t Smoke: smoking is the major cause of lung cancer and disease. It causes swelling in the lung and makes breathing more difficult. Smoking eventually destroys lung tissue and can initiate the growth of cancer due to changes in your lungs.