As the infection travels your respiratory tract, your immune system fights back. Your lungs and airways swell and become inflamed.
The coronavirus appears to directly infect the lungs. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that generally attacks the airways, including the lungs. COVID-19 can cause a variety of respiratory problems, from mild to critical. Older adults and people with other health conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, may have more severe symptoms.
The new coronavirus can infect the upper or lower respiratory tract. Travel through your airways. The coating can irritate and ignite. In some cases, the infection can reach down into your alveoli.
About 80% of people who have COVID-19 have mild to moderate symptoms. You may experience a dry cough or sore throat. Some people have pneumonia, an infection in which the alveoli are inflamed.
Before symptoms appear, 25% of the lungs are infected with the virus. However, if you take the help of an expert, you can save your lungs from infection.
When the infection travels through the airways, the immune system responds. The lungs and airways are swollen and inflamed. It can start and spread in one part of the lung.
If there is swelling or severe pain in the lower lungs, you should immediately see a doctor.
Dry cough, pain in the chest while coughing is also signs of being COVID-19 positive.
The complications
COVID-19 can cause lung complications like pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, and in some fatal cases, total collapse of the lungs.
In case of pneumonia caused by this virus, the air sacs in the lungs are filled with fluid and the valves of the lungs get inflamed, leading to breathing difficulties accompanied by coughing.
While most people recover from pneumonia without any lasting lung damage, this particular virus may cause breathing difficulties that take longer to withdraw completely.
How to improve lung functions
Two functions determine overall lung health – lung capacity, which is the extent to which lungs can expand, which is genetics.
The second is ‘lung function’ which is the processing of oxygen and distribution to the body. This function grows till the age of 25, after which it gradually reduces.
Improving lung function should be the primary aim and this can be achieved majorly by exercises.
A minimum of 30 minutes for adults and 60 minutes of physical exercise for children every day is imperative to keep any lung distress at bay.
Physical exercise allows us to take deeper breaths than usual, expand and contract the lung inner valves, and ensures optimum oxygen saturation levels, to ensure healthy lung functions.
It also keeps a check on the Haemoglobin and RBC level in the blood to ensure unrestricted flow to and from the lungs.
Running, brisk walking, cycling, swimming are all good examples of suggested physical exercises.
The best way to reduce chronic inflammation is to ensure proper nutrition, particularly with foods high in antioxidants like fruits and vegetables.
Bananas, apples, tomatoes, and grapes are all rich in natural antioxidants and can reduce inflammation over time.
This post was originally written by DNA
