You can work to maintain and maybe improve your lung capacity with deep breathing exercises, and exercise in general. Getty Images

Q: I recently started going to a yoga class at our community center. We were doing deep breathing, and it felt like my lungs weren't filling up as much as they used to. Do your lungs get less elastic when you get older? Can that be reversed?

A: The lungs, which are a pair of balloonlike organs located in the chest cavity, are really quite remarkable. With each inhale, they make possible the rapid transfer of life-sustaining oxygen to the bloodstream. Each exhale off-loads carbon dioxide, which is a waste product.

The lungs are firm enough to maintain their shape, yet elastic enough to expand and contract with each of the estimated 22,000 (!) breaths we take

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