Waiting to Exhale

My topic is how do the qualifying factors that characterize a person as asthmatic compare to the lungs of a longtime smoker? The topic really interests me because asthma runs in my family and my aunt that was a longtime smoker died recently because of lung cancer. I have no clue what exactly asthma is or what causes it. Although, I’ve heard the token phrase “Stay smoke free” dozens of times, I’ve never taken the time to learn what smoking does to your body. My hypothesis is that my experiment will show that someone who is asthmatic has less flow of oxygen to the lungs whereas a smoker just has less room to hold the oxygen being taken in. Hopefully, this will make me more aware and less naïve to my own risk.
The lungs do a very vital and unique job for your health. The chest contains two lungs, one lung on the right side of the chest, the other on the left side of the chest. Each lung is made up of sections called lobes. The lung is soft and protected by the ribcage. The purposes of the lungs are to bring oxygen into the body and to remove carbon dioxide.   Oxygen is a gas that provides us energy while carbon dioxide is a waste product of the body.   The lungs are one the most important parts in the human body.
Asthma is defined as is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning. Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts in childhood. In the United States, more than 22 million people are known to have asthma. Nearly 6 million of these people are children.   Asthma has no set pattern.   Its symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe and can flare up from time to time and then not appear for long periods. The cause of asthma is not known, and currently there is no cure.   However, a doctor can prescribe medication or an inhaler which...