How Does Stress Affect My Pulmonary System?

Your pulmonary system is made up of blood vessels and lungs. The lungs provide airways, which move air from your nose and mouth. Blood vessels carry blood from your heart through the lungs, and back to your heart. Stress affects how well your lungs work to move air and put oxygen in blood. As stress builds, air is moved less efficiently. Stress also affects how efficiently blood is moved between your heart and lungs. People who already have breathing disorders, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), have more intense and more frequent problems breathing during periods of high stress.

During periods of chronic stress, the body is in a heightened state due to the production of the hormone cortisol. This can interfere with normal breathing patterns. Hunched shoulders, shallow breathing from the upper chest and being short of breath are the most common manifestations. This is because those small accessory muscles are being used as if they were the much bigger and more powerful primary muscle of respiration. But they aren’t equipped to cope. The end result is that these muscles can become fatigued, tense, and a source of pain, altering the posture as the head and neck are drawn forward. As the accessory muscles are used more, the diaphragm is used less, affecting not only respiratory efficiency but also all the other beneficial effects of diaphragmatic breathing.

What Blood/Biometric Tests Were Included in the Pulmonary System?

P1-P2 Level Pulmonary Tests

Peak Flow - Peak flow measures an individual’s maximum ability to exhale, or peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR or PEF). Peak flow readings are higher when individuals are well and lower when the airways are constricted.

How Do I Improve My Pulmonary System?

  • Exercise aerobically, such as walking or biking, for 20-30 minutes a day.
  • Take ten deep breaths in the morning, ten at night, and as many as you need in between to help relieve stress. Begin each breath by letting air expand your lower belly (belly button area) and increase air intake until your lungs are also filled. Force all the out from the lungs and belly on the exhale. Inhale to the count of 5, exhale to the count of 10.
  • Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and whole-grains. These foods offers protection against chronic lung disease. The difference in lung disease rates between people on the highest-versus lowest-quality diets was almost fivefold.
  • If you have asthma, take 400 miligrams a day of Magnesium. It is a mineral that relaxes the bronchial tubes, and can help with asthma symptoms. 
  • Do not smoke.
  • Adopt stress management techniques, such as yoga or tai-chi, which uses deep breathing practices.