To better understand the condition, we should begin with a bit of anatomy ... than 280 million tiny air sacs, or alveoli, located deep within each lung. These alveoli do the crucial work of ...

The bronchi in the lungs split into smaller and smaller tubes called bronchioles. These end in microscopic air sacs called alveoli. The process of ventilation as a series of changes in pressure ...

Carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the alveoli. These three features are particularly important to our lungs for efficient gas exchange. Most of them also apply to other exchange surfaces ...