During the natural process of aging, the number of functional cilia in the respiratory system decreases, resulting in:

During the natural process of aging, the number of functional cilia in the respiratory system decreases, resulting in:

• A. baseline respiratory distress.
• B. a decreased ability to cough.
• C. an increased risk of COPD.
• D. air-trapping within the alveoli.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that mucociliary clearance declines with aging. Fewer functional cilia means the airway’s system for moving mucus, debris, and trapped pathogens out of the lungs slows down. When mucus isn’t cleared efficiently, secretions can accumulate and become thicker, making it harder for coughing to expel them effectively. So the overall ability to cough productively decreases because the material you’d expect to mobilize and cough up isn’t being cleared as well. The other options don’t fit as a direct result of aging’s impact on cilia: aging alone isn’t a guaranteed baseline distress, COPD risk and alveolar air-trapping are more tied to chronic disease and smoking rather than ciliary decline by itself.

The key idea is that mucociliary clearance declines with aging. Fewer functional cilia means the airway’s system for moving mucus, debris, and trapped pathogens out of the lungs slows down. When mucus isn’t cleared efficiently, secretions can accumulate and become thicker, making it harder for coughing to expel them effectively. So the overall ability to cough productively decreases because the material you’d expect to mobilize and cough up isn’t being cleared as well. The other options don’t fit as a direct result of aging’s impact on cilia: aging alone isn’t a guaranteed baseline distress, COPD risk and alveolar air-trapping are more tied to chronic disease and smoking rather than ciliary decline by itself.