What Lungs Are and How Lungs Work

The name "asthma" goes back to an ancient Greek word meaning "difficult breathing." Originally, asthma was used to describe difficult breathing from any cause, but in the 20th century it has come to mean difficult breathing because of a problem that begins in the bronchial tubes of the lungs. To understand what goes wrong with the lungs in asthma, we must fist look at the mechanics of breathing via the structure (anatomy) and workings (physiology) of the chest. When we know how the lungs are put together and how they work, we can consider the process of breathing and understand what the lungs do to fulfill their job of providing a dependable supply of oxygen to the body. Understanding about the workings of the lung is required to make useful much of the information contained in this website.

There is no easy way to control asthma, no pill that alone can give complete and permanent relief. There is much that can be done to help the patient, but management must be more than taking a pill or a shot. What can be done requires that the asthmatic patient be thoroughly knowledgeable about the disease, especially in understanding the structure and functioning of the body, particularly the lungs. To understand asthma, you have to know the purpose of lungs, how they work, how air gets into the lungs, what is the pathway of air out of the lungs, and how that pathway affects the disease process.