The Heart & Lung Connection
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By Sheldon Riklon, M.D.
Your heart and lungs are two of the most important organs in your body. They work closely together every minute of the day to keep you healthy and strong. When one is not healthy, the other is often affected. That’s why taking care of both your heart and your lungs is essential for overall health.
What Do the Heart and Lungs Do?
Every time you breathe in, your lungs take in oxygen from the air. Oxygen is something your body needs to make energy and keep your organs working properly.
Inside your lungs are millions of tiny air sacs that are surrounded by small blood vessels. Oxygen moves from the air sacs into your bloodstream, where your heart pumps the oxygen-rich blood to your muscles, tissues and organs.
At the same time, your blood collects the carbon dioxide, a waste gas, from your body and carries it back to the heart, where it passes back through the lungs, and is released when you breathe out.
This exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide happens constantly, even while you sleep, and is vital for keeping your body functioning.
Harmful Effects of Smoking and Vaping
Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body.
Cigarettes contain more than 7,000 chemicals, including toxic substances like arsenic, formaldehyde and tar as well as nicotine, which is highly addictive and harmful to your body.
E-cigarettes, also known as vaping, are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth and young adults in the U.S. Often marketed with appealing flavors and promoted as safer alternatives to cigarettes, e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine and other dangerous chemicals.
Vaping works by heating a liquid and inhaling the fumes. These fumes can coat the lungs with harmful substances and cause serious lung injuries, including:
- Popcorn lung
- Lipoid pneumonia
- Sudden lung collapse
Both smoking cigarettes and vaping significantly increase the risk of heart disease, lung disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and reproductive health problems.
In the U.S., heart disease is the leading cause of death, while lung cancer is the third most common cancer, with about eight out of 10 lung cancer deaths linked to smoking.
Additionally, more than 35 million Americans suffer from chronic lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, asthma and chronic bronchitis.
Protecting Your Heart and Lungs
One of the best things you can do for your health is to quit smoking or vaping. While quitting can be challenging, support and resources are always available.
Other tips to improve your heart and lung function include:
- Get Regular Physical Activity
Physical activity strengthens your heart and lungs and helps your body work more efficiently. It can also help reduce your cravings, lower stress and help prevent weight gain when you quit smoking. Try to find activities you enjoy, such as walking, biking, yoga or gardening, to make movement a part of your daily routine.
- Eat a Healthy, Nutritious Diet
Try to incorporate more of these foods into your diet:
- Water to keep your body hydrated.
- Vegetables like broccoli, spinach, carrots and cucumbers for important vitamins.
- Fruits, especially those high in vitamin C, like oranges.
- Whole grains and fiber-rich foods to help control cholesterol and blood sugar, and to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
- Lean protein to support muscle strength and a healthy weight.
And limit these:
- Limit alcohol, because too much can damage your heart and lungs.
- Reduce sodium (salt) to lower your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Your heart and lungs work together every moment of your life. Making small, healthy changes — like quitting smoking, staying active and eating well — can make a big difference in protecting these vital organs.
For more information, or if you need help quitting smoking, visit this helpful Arkansas Department of Health website at bewellarkansas.org.
Sheldon Riklon, M.D., is a professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and a co-investigator with the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation.