Is this the right approach to check if you have healthy lungs?

While the lungs and respiratory system allow oxygen in the air to be taken into the body while also letting the body get rid of carbon dioxide in the air breathed out, an exercise that includes holding your breath might help you identify whether your lungs are in excellent health or are not working regularly, according to a viral video. This claim has been widely shared and spread across social media platforms. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia’s fact check found that the claim attached to the video clip above is misleading.

This is about our investigation of this claim.

Social Media Claim

Recently, one of the Facebook pages posted a video clip showing and reacting to an instruction and an exercise that asked users to hold their breath so they could identify whether their lungs were healthy. The post with the video clip above has been shared many times by social media users, who have expressed mixed opinions and reactions as well.

The post with the video clip above has been shared many times by social media users, who have expressed mixed opinions and reactions as well.

Below is the full video clip that the Facebook page wrote as “how to know you have healthy lungs”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

After conducting a relevant keyword search on the internet, we discovered a tone of other videos that support this assertion. As a result, we have found another claim that was posted yesterday.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Another video claim has been posted and seen on other social media users as well recently.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia reviewed and verified the above claim through keyword search and health recommendations, which brought us to the following facts:

World Health Organization (WHO) has clarified and confirmed that “Being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort DOES NOT mean you are free from the other lung disease”. This clarification comes after there are similar methods claiming to check your lungs, and oxygen levels have become viral, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

World Health Organization (WHO) | Archived Link

According to ScienceDirect, a website that provides access to a large bibliographic database of scientific and medical publications of the Dutch publisher Elsevier has also observed and stated that “the breathing patterns vary among individuals and may be influenced by pain, emotion, body temperature, sleep, body position, activity level, and the presence of pulmonary, cardiac, metabolic, or nervous system disease”.

ScienceDirect | Archived Link

Additionally, a video demonstration of the “Breath Holding Test” was released and posted by MedBridge, indicating that while the test is useful for identifying our breathing patterns, there are other factors that influence how we breathe as well.

Please see the following full video:

MedBridge | Archived Link

According to the American Lung Association, one of the “Warning Signs of Lung Disease” is “Shortness of Breath”. These symptoms should be closely monitored since they may indicate the onset of lung diseases such as COPD, asthma, and lung cancer. It might be beneficial to recognise the early indicators of lung illness so that you can start treatment before the condition worsens or possibly becomes life-threatening.

American Lung Association | Archived Link

Our Fact Crescendo Cambodia has also sought clarification from the local medical experts; however, there was no response or confirmation as to whether this approach is recommended to implement to check your lungs’ health. We will update and keep the story refreshed once we have confirmation.

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Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the claim, as mentioned above, misleading. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that holding your breath for more than ten seconds does not imply that you are disease-free from lung disease. On the other hand, a test called the breath-holding test is employed in conjunction with several other testing techniques to assess a range of health issues.