David Cox
BBC future
How old do you think your lungs are?
With every breath, they are exposed to a multitude of pollutants, microbes, dust, and allergens.
It's no surprise that all of this can take its toll on these delicate organs, accelerating the way they age.
But they can also affect how the rest of our body ages.
In early May 2025, an international team of respiratory experts announced one of the first studies of all time assessing how lung function in humans varies with age.
Based on data from about 30.000 men and women collected throughout the 20th century, the study found that lung function peaks in our early to mid-twenties.
Women's lung capacity usually peaks a few years earlier than men's - after which it begins to decline.
This, according to Judith Garcia-Aymerich, a professor at the Institute for Global Health in Barcelona, who led the study, appears to be a biologically programmed part of aging, she says.
Factors such as smoking, air pollution, and worsening conditions such as asthma can accelerate this decline.
The better your lung capacity at the time it was at its peak, the greater your resistance to chronic respiratory diseases and other lung-related health conditions later in life, says Garcia-Ejmerich.
But lung health is also linked to a wide range of other more unexpected aspects of your health, affecting your immune system, your weight, and even your brain.
So, how healthy are your lungs really?
And can you do anything to improve the situation they are in?
Studies like the one above use extensive experiments to measure lung health, but there's also a simple way to test your lungs at home.
All you need is a large plastic bottle, a bucket or tub, and a roll of rubber tubing.
And then do the following (you may want to do this in the sink or outside, as it can make a mess).
1. First, measure 200 milliliters of water in a measuring cup, pour it into the plastic bottle, and use a pencil to mark the water level.
2. Add another 200 milliliters of water, mark the new water level, and repeat the process until the bottle is full.
3. Fill a bucket or tub with water and place the now full bottle in it, turning the bottle upside down under the water.
4. Holding the bottle in this position, push the rubber tube into the neck of the bottle. It does not have to be a tight fit.
5. Take a deep breath and blow into the tube.
6. Count how many lines of water you can blow out of the bottle.
7. Multiply the number of lines by 200 milliliters (eg, three lines is 600 milliliters). The resulting number is your vital capacity, also called forced vital capacity, or FVC.
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"This test checks the amount of air you can exhale, called vital capacity," says John Dickinson, who heads the respiratory exercise clinic at the University of Kent.
"The term was first used by the English surgeon John Hutchinson in the 1840s. He began to notice that those who could only breathe small amounts of air had a shorter life expectancy."
According to the American Lung Association, FVC can decrease by about 0,2 liters per decade, even in healthy people who have never smoked, just from the effects of aging.
Research suggests that a normal healthy FVC is between three and five liters.
Dickinson says you shouldn't be too concerned if you get a lower score on this at-home health test.
"Many people have trouble emptying their lungs completely, so they can get falsely low results," he says.
But there are always ways to improve your lung health and combat any decline in their performance.
And if you want to age with dignity, this could be an important step.
How do your lungs affect your overall health?
Research shows that as we age, we experience a loss of elasticity in our lung tissue, weakening of respiratory muscles such as the diaphragm, and changes in the chest cavity that limit its ability to expand and contract.
"If the loss of lung function is severe, people may experience symptoms such as shortness of breath," says Garcia-Ejmerich.
"This can lead to a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is characterized by low levels of lung function."
But deteriorating lung health doesn't just expose you to lung disease.
It is also linked to a surprising range of other diseases, from high blood pressure to autoimmune conditions, metabolic disease, frailty, and even cognitive decline.
Dawn Baudish, a professor at McMaster University in Canada who specializes in aging and immunity, says one reason is that the lungs are inextricably linked to the heart and circulation, and also have a major connection to the health of our broader immune system through what's called the "lung-immunity axis."
"The lungs have millions of immune cells that have important functions such as clearing out fine particulate air pollution, fighting infections, and repairing damage that comes from the constant stretching during inhalation and exhalation," she says.
According to Baudis, if the lung's immune cells can't clear out all the particles collected in the lungs, they trigger increased levels of inflammation, which can create scarring in the lungs, known as pulmonary fibrosis.
This makes the lungs stiffer and less able to function.
Inflammation in our lungs can also lead to changes in the way our body responds to respiratory infections, as immune reactions can cause additional damage.
Poorer lung function has also been found to precede other age-related health problems, including heart disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes and memory impairment – although the exact nature of this relationship is yet to be understood.
Baudis believes that inflammation in your lungs can spread throughout your body.
Test your breathing
Another home test you can do, says Dickinson, is to assess your resting respiratory rate, which refers to the length of time you can exhale before you have to inhale again.
"Take a deep breath and then count how many seconds you can hold it out," he says.
"You should be able to exhale slowly for at least 11 seconds."
Benefits of healthy lungs
The relationship between our lungs and broader health is also two-way.
Baudis says that if we keep our lungs relatively healthy, we are more likely to not get sick later in life.
"Although lung capacity declines with age, this is not a cause for concern for those who take care of their lung health," Dickinson adds.
"Healthy lungs have more than enough capacity to supply the body with oxygen and remove carbon dioxide for a lifetime."
"However, if the rate of deterioration increases, it could affect our health and quality of life."
If you're concerned about your lungs, Dickinson suggests seeing a doctor for a proper pulmonary function test, which involves breathing into a device called a spirometer, which measures the volume and speed of your breath.
The spirometer will calculate your FVC with medical precision along with your forced expiratory volume (FEV1) – the amount of air you exhale in one second after taking a deep breath.
It will also give you a ratio of FEV1 to FVC, which can indicate whether you have something obstructing your airflow.
Together, these results provide an overall picture of your lung health.
"Ideally, I would recommend that people have their lung function assessed every ten years if they are not experiencing any symptoms, but they should have it tested immediately if they are experiencing symptoms of abnormal shortness of breath," says Dickinson.
Improving your lung function
Once you know the true state of your lungs, evidence shows that there are some preventative steps you can take to improve lung capacity and help mitigate their decline caused by aging.
Regular exercise, for example, can reduce airway inflammation and improve the strength and endurance of breathing muscles.
Reducing dietary salt may also be beneficial, as research suggests that excess dietary salt may worsen lung inflammation and fibrosis.
A diet rich in fish oils, antioxidants, and vitamins C and E, meanwhile, also helps protect lung walls from damage.
Braudis suggests quitting cigarettes and vaping to avoid inhaling any potentially inflammatory chemicals.
According to Daniel Craighead, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, another way to maintain good lung function is to maintain a healthy weight and avoid gaining excess body fat.
"Belly fat can interfere with the lungs' ability to fully fill with air," says Craighead.
But there's another way we can actually improve lung function.
Since the mid-1990s, inspiratory muscle training (IMT), or breathing through a resistance device, has become popular as a way to increase respiratory muscle strength among athletes, singers, and people with existing breathing difficulties such as asthma and COPD.
Research has shown that IMT can improve exercise capacity and lower blood pressure.
The gold standard method for IMT is a medical device known as the PowerBridge (Powerbreathe), which is recognized as an approved medical product by the British National Health Service (NHS) and other health services.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized it as a tool to support recovery from COVID, and it is also used by hospitals around the world for rehabilitation - improving lung function in people before surgery to increase their chances of a good recovery.
It is also used to treat pulmonary fibrosis and to help those who have been on ventilators in intensive care.
According to Craighead, studies have typically shown that two sessions of 30 breaths on the IMT per day are sufficient to enhance respiratory muscle strength.
Sabrina Brar, medical officer at International PowerBride, compares using IMT via a device to lifting weights for the muscles in your arms and legs.
"Strengthening the muscle responsible for inhalation, just like strengthening any other muscle in the body, increases respiratory muscle endurance and strength and reduces age-related decline in lung function," says Brar.
"The idea is to engage the diaphragm and intercostal muscles and then periodically increase the resistance over a period of time as lung strength improves."
Another option is to simply start singing or playing a wind instrument.
Researchers at the Louis Armstrong Center in New York patented this approach in an attempt to improve lung function in people with asthma by teaching them to play various wind instruments.
Other scientists have even designed an electronic version of a type of flute called an ocarina to help improve lung function.
Assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark and classical singer Mette Kasgard has participated in a number of studies looking at how singing can potentially help people with COPD.
While Kasgaard says there's no evidence to suggest that singing can actually heal existing lung damage, she believes it could still help lung health by improving our ability to use our respiratory muscles.
“A central aspect of singing is the ability to sing long phrases, which requires control and flexibility of the diaphragm, the muscles between the ribs, and the abdominal muscles,” she says.
But whatever lung exercises you choose, they can help these important organs handle everything the world throws at them—one breath at a time.
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