Cleans harmful substances from the lungs Natural lung decontaminant

Some people joke that modern people's lungs have become "vacuum cleaners" that are never cleaned. The word "lungs" can be reversed to "dirty lungs". When you open the electronic map of China's atmospheric environment, a large area of ​​thrilling orange-red is displayed on the screen. As far as the eye can see, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Chengdu, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai and other cities are all included. Academician Zhong Nanshan was also very worried about this: "Even if Guangzhou people over 50 years old do not have lung diseases, the lungs opened during surgery are all black."

It is not just the Chinese whose lungs are polluted. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released air quality data collected from 1,081 cities around the world, showing that the top 50 cities with the least inhalable particulate matter (PM10) in the air are almost all Canada and the United States. The cities with the highest content are located in Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan. The cities with the lowest inhalable particulate matter content in China are Haikou (814th) and Lhasa (891st), Beijing ranks 1,035th, and the most serious is Lanzhou, ranking 1,058th. Living in many large and medium-sized cities, in addition to air pollution, cigarettes, fumes, factory sewage, central air conditioning, etc. are constantly destroying our lungs. Can you feel that your lung health has sounded the alarm?

The most easily dirty and fragile organ

"The structure of the lung is like an air filter, extracting oxygen from the atmosphere and inputting it into the blood, and expelling carbon dioxide from the body." Jiao Yang, chief physician of the respiratory department of the Oriental Hospital affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, told reporters, "The total area of ​​the alveoli is about 70 square meters. An adult breathes more than 20,000 times a day and inhales about 20 kilograms of air, which is equivalent to the volume of a large swimming pool."

Compared with other organs in the body, the lung is the only organ directly exposed to the external environment. Car exhaust, smoke pollution, dust and ash...all enter the lungs without obstruction. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine also calls the lungs "delicate organs" - delicate organs. The lungs have a certain self-cleaning ability. One way to "clean" these harmful substances is by exhaling, such as coughing, which can directly exhale harmful substances out of the body; the other is to expectorate, through the secretions of the lungs, the harmful substances are wrapped and excreted from the body.

"Even so, the lungs are the dirtiest of all organs!" Professor Zhi Xiuyi, director of the Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Capital Medical University, told reporters, "Smoking is the biggest source of lung pollution. Normal people's lungs are red, while smokers' lungs are completely blackened! Nicotine, sulfur dioxide and other harmful substances inhaled will adhere to the lungs.

Among all organs, the lungs have the worst self-protection ability. Especially for the elderly, the weak, the chronically ill and children, whose immune function declines, they are easily invaded by bacteria and viruses, and should pay more attention to protecting their lungs. From a Western medicine perspective, lung infection is one of the most important causes of death among the elderly, and even seasonal influenza can cause death among the elderly; and pneumonia is also among the top causes of death among children under five years old.

Four major sources of lung pollution

People's living habits such as food, clothing, housing and transportation have an impact on the lungs, and it is easy to leave "stains" on the lungs. If you don't pay attention, these "stains" may turn into bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, or even lung cancer. "Stubborn stains". So, which factors are most likely to damage the lungs?

1. Smoking

Smoking ranks first in the list of "natural enemies" of lung function. When a cigarette is lit and burned, it can produce at least 4,000 chemicals, of which 69 have been confirmed to be carcinogens, including alkaloids such as nicotine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metal elements, etc. They can easily invade the lungs and destroy the cilia of the respiratory epithelium. These cilia are the "scavengers" of the respiratory tract. Once destroyed, the protective effect will be much worse.

2. Air pollution

Every breath you breathe may bring floating particles and harmful gases into the body. Although the tiny cilia arranged on the lung lobes can sweep out some pollutants and bacteria. But if you are in an air-polluted environment for a long time, even the strongest lungs will not be able to bear it. Ruan Qingyuan, one of the drafters of the "Air Pollution Map" and an expert at the Center for Public and Environmental Research, said that in areas with severe air pollution, people suffer from respiratory diseases such as lung disease. The chance of respiratory diseases is significantly higher. Even worse than this is the seemingly clean and fresh indoor environment. The indoor air pollution level in some public places is equivalent to 4-5 times that of outdoor pollution. Many people working in office buildings will feel dizzy, chest tightness, dry eyes, and memory loss.

3. Diseases

Diseases that directly invade the respiratory organs, such as colds, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema and even lung cancer. Chao Enxiang, professor of Chinese medicine at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that many infectious diseases will first invade the lungs, such as SARS and influenza A. In daily life, a cold will continue to not heal, and it is easy to have a chronic inflammatory reaction, which will further lead to bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Some diseases will also change the structure of the lungs. For example, people who smoke for a long time will not be able to resist the disease. If they have chronic emphysema and asthma, they may turn into pneumonia.

4. Drugs

People are more familiar with the effects of drugs on the functions of organs such as the liver and kidneys. In fact, the lungs are also among them, and they are organs that are easily damaged by drugs. Taking drug-induced pneumonia as an example, it is mostly caused by drug allergies, such as Penicillin, etc., the main symptoms are low fever, headache, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness, sputum, etc., most of which disappear after stopping the drug. Asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary embolism, etc. are also mostly caused by drugs.

Several natural "detergents"

& If the lungs are compared to a dirty piece of clothing, then ordinary dust and bacteria can be removed by the tiny cilia arranged on the lung lobes, just like washing the dust on clothes with clean water. However, the free radicals caused by smoking and daily life are like oil stains, which have penetrated into the fibers of this dirty piece of clothing. There is no way to clean them without special "detergents". Several experts remind that the following points should be paid attention to in life:

1. The lungs like "wet" and don't like "dryness"

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes that the lungs like moisture and hate dryness. The dry climate in autumn is most likely to damage the lungs. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the maintenance of the lungs in this season, and they must be given enough water. The best season for nourishing the lungs in a year is autumn, that is, from the beginning of autumn to the beginning of winter. Drinking 2000 ml of water every day can ensure the lubrication of the lungs and respiratory tract.

2. Eat some carrots and apples for your lungs

This is a convenient and cheap way to protect your lungs. Lung "injury" is mostly caused by damage to the bronchial mucosa. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which can be decomposed into vitamin A twice in the human body, which can protect mucosal cells and prevent them from being damaged by bacteria. Pectin and antioxidants in apple peels can reduce the inflammatory response of the lungs. Those who eat the most apples are 33% less likely to have chronic phlegm cough than those who eat the least apples. This is the result of a study by the National Center for Health Research in the United States.

3. Actively cough to "clean" the lungs

Every morning, noon or before going to bed, take a deep breath outdoors in fresh air. While taking a deep breath, slowly raise your arms, then cough to make the air flow out of your mouth and nose and cough up phlegm. After each time, take a few normal breaths. As long as you persist every day, your lungs can be kept clean.

4. Regularly check your lungs for those over 40 years old

After the age of 40, lung function begins to decline, but there are no symptoms in the early stage. Therefore, there are five types of people who must undergo lung function tests early: long-term smokers, chronic coughers and sputum expectorants, people with breathing difficulties, workers in dusty environments, and patients with respiratory diseases. At the same time, moderate exercise, maintaining a normal weight, reducing stress, and quitting smoking can all improve lung immunity. Lung function tests are non-invasive. All you need to do is blow into the instrument. It only takes 3-5 minutes to complete a routine check.

5. Wash your mouth and nose frequently on smoggy days

On smoggy days, don't do strenuous exercise such as long-distance running and playing football, which can easily increase lung capacity, causing people to inhale more pollutants, and try to stay away from the road. If you stay outdoors for a long time on foggy days, it is best to wear a mask. Be sure to wash your face, hands, and mouthwash in time after returning home. It is best to use a cotton swab dipped in tap water or saline to clean the nasal cavity.

6. Don't close the window too tightly

There will be kitchen fume pollution, furniture additive pollution, etc. at home. If there is no ventilation, the dirty indoor air will also harm your health. You can choose to open the window for a short time to ventilate at noon when the sun is more abundant and there are fewer pollutants. Use an air purifier. 80% of the air purifiers on the market are mainly used to purify fine particles in the air. They have a good adsorption effect on PM2.5, but you should pay attention to changing the filter element frequently when using it.

7. Vaccination

It is recommended that people over 60 years old get a pneumonia vaccine, which can effectively protect them for more than 85% and lasts for 5 years. In addition, you should get a flu vaccine once a year, especially for people with poor health, low immune function, coronary heart disease, and chronic respiratory diseases.