Healthy, powerful breathing is a key determinant of lifespan. A doctor warns that age 60 is a critical turning point for the decline of the "respiratory muscles," leading to shallower, faster breathing. This triggers a vicious cycle of declining lung function and increasing breathlessness. Over time, this can cause cellular oxygen deprivation, making the body more susceptible to various ailments and ultimately affecting longevity. Here's how to self-check your "lung age."
After 60, Respiratory Decline Accelerates: Lung Oxygen Deficiency Leads to Easy Panting
Breathing is an automatic act; over a lifetime, we may take 500 to 600 million breaths. According to Japanese media Kaigo Post Seven, Dr. Ikuo Honma, a medical doctor and Professor Emeritus at Showa University School of Medicine, explains that as we age, getting winded after walking a short distance or climbing a few flights of stairs is actually a warning sign of "lung aging."
A crucial indicator of respiratory function is "residual volume." Dr. Honma explains that this refers to the amount of air remaining in the lungs after a maximal exhalation. Generally, a residual volume comprising 30-40% of total lung capacity is considered normal. However, after age 60, this proportion can rise to over 50%. Excessively high residual air keeps the lungs in a chronically inflated state, meaning the actual space available for gas exchange is less than half. This is why elderly individuals more frequently experience difficulty breathing and are prone to shortness of breath.
The root cause of all this is the decline of the "respiratory muscles." The human body has about 20 types of muscles that assist lung ventilation, collectively called the respiratory muscles. As these muscles weaken with age, the rib cage cannot expand fully, forcing breathing to become shallow and rapid. More "useless waste air" accumulates in the lungs, leaving less space to take in "fresh air," creating a deadly vicious cycle.
Shallow Breathing and Mouth Breathing Accelerate Aging
Dr. Tetsuya Okunaka, a respiratory surgeon, warns that declining respiratory function harms the body far more than we imagine. Modern people seem to have forgotten the importance of deep breathing. Habits like shallow breathing or mouth breathing are becoming increasingly common, quietly eroding our health.
- Shallow Breathing: Insufficient oxygen intake leads to decreased function in organs, muscles, and cells. Immune cell activity drops, making you more susceptible to illness. Slowed metabolism accelerates aging and can worsen chronic diseases.
- Mouth Breathing: The nasal cavity is the body's best "air purifier." In contrast, mouth breathing allows viruses, pollen, bacteria, and other pathogens to directly invade the lungs, easily triggering allergies and colds. Bacterial growth in the mouth also causes bad breath. Furthermore, mouth breathing is far less efficient than nasal breathing. Over time, it leads to oxygen deprivation in cells throughout the body, worsening metabolism and inviting issues like cold extremities, stiff shoulders and neck, and obesity.
Self-Test Your "Lung Age" with a Tissue
These poor breathing habits can, over the long term, lead to premature decline in "lung age." Seniors can pay attention to subtle details in daily life. For example, if you get winded or experience heart palpitations more easily than friends your age during a walk, or if you need to stop and catch your breath while bending over to wash your long hair, these could be signs of declining lung function. There's also a simple test you can easily perform at home to check your respiratory function.
Simple Self-Check for "Lung Age"
Test Steps:
- Take two tissues and firmly roll them into a tight ball about 2cm in diameter. Secure it with tape.
- Place the tissue ball into one end of a cardboard tube (like from plastic wrap). This end will be your mouthpiece.
- Stand up straight, hold the tube horizontally, and blow the ball out of the tube with one single, maximal breath.
- Measure how far the tissue ball traveled.
Test Results:
- Less than 1.4 meters: This is a very dangerous warning sign, indicating potentially severe decline in lung function. It is recommended to visit a hospital for further professional pulmonary function tests.
- 1.4 - 4.2 meters: Your lung age is approximately 40-60 years. If your actual age is over 60, maintaining this level of respiratory function is within a reasonable range. However, if you are only in your 40s or 50s, this suggests your lungs have aged prematurely, and you should start paying attention to lung care.
- More than 4.2 meters: Your lung age is around 30-40 years—still very young. However, respiratory function actually begins its yearly decline as early as your mid-20s, so you must not become complacent.
