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Respiratory System
The respiratory system includes the lungs and the airway. The questions in this category focus mainly on the anatomical and physiological processes associated with breathing.
2,890 Questions
What is the function of the bronchioles of the lungs?
The bronchioles are smaller airways branching off from the bronchi that send the air on to the inside walls of the lungs where the alveoli allow the oxygen to be absorbed by the blood cells and oxygenate the blood for transfer throughout the body.
What is the function of the ciliary escalator?
The ciliary body has three functions: accommodation, aqueous humor production and the production and maintenance of the lens zonules. Accommodation essentially means that when the ciliary muscle contracts, the lens becomes more convex, generally improving the focus for closer objects. When it relaxes, it flattens the lens, generally improving the focus for farther objects. One of the essential roles of the ciliary body is also the production of the aqueous humor, which is responsible for providing most of the nutrients for the lens and the cornea and involved in waste management of these areas.
What hormones control breathing rate?
The adrenal glands raise blood sugar and increase the heartrate and respiratory rate. These changes make you best able to respond to environmental stresses.
How gorillas respiratory system?
Yes they do. More accurately, they breathe through their nose or mouth as we do.
Does asthma affect upper or lower respiratory system?
No, asthma is a chronic inflammation and narrowing of bronchial passages in the lungs. But it can vary in severity over time, and it can certainly be made worse by an upper respiratory infection.
Why does surfactant affect airflow?
Surfactant improves airflow in several ways. First, it maintains airway stability by preventing airway film collapse of the airway walls. Second, surfactant modulates airway wall thickness and diameter by regulating liquid balance. In other words, the dysfunction of surfactant airways might be one of the mechanisms leading to increased airway resistance [seen in in obstructive lung diseases].
Source:
J Hohlfeld, H Fabel, and H Hamm. The role of pulmonary surfactant in obstructive airways disease.
Eur Respir J 1997; 10: 482-491
http://www.ersj.org.uk/cgi/content/abstract/10/2/482
What is the name for the respiratory system specialist?
A Pulmonologist is a doctor that specializes in the respiratory system. A Respiratory Therapists evaluate, treat, and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders but does not have to be an MD.
Is the respiratory system open or closed on a human?
It is open because it starts in the mouth and ends in the anus. If you take out the alimentary canal it would be one long pipe with two openings.
What are the organs of the upper respiratory tract?
The upper respiratory tract consists of all the parts above the larynx. This would include the throat, nasal cavity, sinus cavities, and the nose.
Emphysema
A disease whereby the elastin in the walls of the alveoli is broken down by an imbalance between the production of neutrophil elastase (elevated by cigarette smoke) and alpha-1-antitrypsin (the activity varies due to genetics or reaction of a critical methionine residue with toxins including cigarette smoke).
The resulting loss of elasticity in the lungs leads to prolonged times for exhalation, which occurs through passive recoil of the expanded lung.
This leads to a smaller volume of gas exchanged per breath.
How does the respiratory system relate to the skin?
It relates to the skin because it is part of your body or it is in your body.
How do the digestive system and cardiovascular system support each other?
the digestive system breaks down large food molecules into smaller food molecules and then the cardiovascular absorbs the food and uses this material for the other parts of the body
well i think that's what it is? any help
What raises and lowers the ribcage during breathing?
It expands to allow the lungs to fill up with air.
Do we humans perform anaerobic respiration?
Yes, we certainly do - apart from couch potatoes, that is!
When we exercise really vigorously, the muscles are trying to break down glucose faster than the heart and lungs can supply oxygen. So the cells can only get as far as breaking down the glucose into pyruvate, then convert that into lactate (also called lactic acid).
The process is called lactic acid fermentation. The muscle cells obtain very little energy from it (only two ATP molecules are synthesized for each glucose molecule respired) but it enables the muscles to carry on exercising longer than otherwise.
Why is your respiratory system called a 'system'?
Because a system is a group of organs and respiratory has organs.
What happens when pressure in the chest cavity becomes greater than atmospherics pressure?
Breathing and Lung Mechanics
Ventilation is the exchange of air between the external environment and the alveoli. Air moves by bulk flow from an area of high pressure to low pressure. All pressures in the respiratory system are relative to atmospheric pressure (760mmHg at sea level). Air will move in or out of the lungs depending on the pressure in the alveoli. The body changes the pressure in the alveoli by changing the volume of the lungs. As volume increases pressure decreases and as volume decreases pressure increases. There are two phases of ventilation; inspiration and expiration. During each phase the body changes the lung dimensions to produce a flow of air either in or out of the lungs.
The body is able to change the dimensions of the lungs because of the relationship of the lungs to the thoracic wall. Each lung is completely enclosed in a sac called the pleural sac. 2 structures contribute to the formation of this sac. The parietal pleura is attached to the thoracic wall where as the visceral pleura is attached to the lung itself. In-between these two membranes is a thin layer of intrapleural fluid. The intrapleural fluid completely surrounds the lungs and lubricates the two surfaces so that they can slide across each other. Changing the pressure of this fluid also allows the lungs and the thoracic wall to move together during normal breathing. Much the way two glass slides with water in-between them are difficult to pull apart, such is the relationship of the lungs to the thoracic wall.
The rhythm of ventilation is also controlled by the "Respiratory Center" which is located largely in the medulla oblongata of the brain stem. This is part of the autonomic system and as such is not controlled voluntarily (one can increase or decrease breathing rate voluntarily, but that involves a different part of the brain). While resting, the respiratory center sends out action potentials that travel along the phrenic nerves into the diaphragm and the external intercostal muscles of the rib cage, causing inhalation. Relaxed exhalation occurs between impulses when the muscles relax. Normal adults have a breathing rate of 12-20 respirations per minute.
The Pathway of Air
When one breathes air in at sea level, the inhalation is composed of different gases. These gases and their quantities are Oxygen which makes up 21%, Nitrogen which is 78%, Carbon Dioxide with 0.04% and others with significantly smaller portions. In the process of breathing, air enters into the nasal cavity through the nostrils and is filtered by coarse hairs (vibrissae) and mucous that are found there. The vibrissae filter macroparticles, which are particles of large size. Dust, pollen, smoke, and fine particles are trapped in the mucous that lines the nasal cavities (hollow spaces within the bones of the skull that warm, moisten, and filter the air). There are three bony projections inside the nasal cavity. The superior, middle, and inferior nasal conchae. Air passes between these chonchae via the nasal meatuses.
Air then travels past the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and laryngopharynx, which are the three portions that make up the pharynx. The pharynx is a funnel-shaped tube that connects our nasal and oral cavities to the larynx. The tonsils which are part of the lymphatic system, form a ring at the connection of the oral cavity and the pharynx. Here, they protect against foreign invasion of antigens. Therefore the respiratory tract aids the immune system through this protection. Then the air travels through the larynx. The larynx closes at the epiglottis to prevent the passage of food or drink as a protection to our trachea and lungs. The larynx is also our voicebox; it contains vocal cords, in which it produces sound. Sound is produced from the vibration of the vocal cords when air passes through them.
The trachea, which is also known as our windpipe, has ciliated cells and mucous secreting cells lining it, and is held open by C-shaped cartilage rings. One of its functions is similar to the larynx and nasal cavity, by way of protection from dust and other particles. The dust will adhere to the sticky mucous and the cilia helps propel it back up the trachea, to where it is either swallowed or coughed up. The mucociliary escalator extends from the top of the trachea all the way down to the bronchioles, which we will discuss later. Through the trachea, the air is now able to pass into the bronchi
[edit] Inspiration
Inspiration is initiated by contraction of the diaphragm and in some cases the intercostals muscles when they receive nervous impulses. During normal quiet breathing, the phrenic nerves stimulate the diaphragm to contract and move downward into the abdomen. This downward movement of the diaphragm enlarges the thorax. When necessary, the intercostal muscles also increase the thorax by contacting and drawing the ribs upward and outward.
The active increase of the thorax changes the stability set up in a resting lung. As the thoracic wall moves away from lung which increases the space between the thoracic wall and lung and decreases the pressure in the intrapleural cavity. This decrease in pressure causes the pressure in the alveoli to become greater than the elastic recoil that is inherent in lung tissue. Thus, when contraction of the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles actively increase the size of the thorax, the lungs are passively forced to expand. This expansion increases the size of the alveoli which decreases pressure in the alveoli. Pressure within the alveoli is now lower than atmospheric pressure which allows air to move into the lungs through the structures discussed above.
[edit] Expiration
During quiet breathing, expiration is normally a passive process and does not require muscles to work. When the lungs are stretched and expanded, stretchy receptors within the alveoli send inhibitory nerve impulses to the medulla oblongata, causing it to stop sending signals to the rib cage and diaphragm to relax and rise. This elastic recoil causes the lungs and chest cavity to shrink and increase the air pressure within the lungs. This increased positive air pressure pushes the air out of the lungs. Expiration happens as the diaphragm relaxes. Although the respiratory system is primarily under involuntary control, and regulated by the medulla oblongata, we have some voluntary control over it also. This is due to the higher brain function of the cerebral cortex.
When under physical or emotional stress, more frequent and deep breathing is needed, and both inspiration and expiration will work as active processes. Additional muscles in the rib cage forcefully contract and push more air out of the lungs. (This cannot occur during rest.) In addition to deeper breathing, when coughing or sneezing we exhale forcibly. Our abdominal muscles will contract suddenly (when there is an urge to cough or sneeze), raising the abdominal pressure. The rapid increase in pressure pushes the relaxed diaphragm up against the pleural cavity. This causes air to be forced out of the lungs.
Another function of the respiratory system is to sing and to speak. Our exert of conscious control over our breathing is what allows us to speak and sing.
Basically:
If the atmospheric pressure is greater then the pressure in the lungs, the air will be expelled out of the lungs very quickly.
What parts are in the lower respiratory tract?
The main parts of the lower respiratory tract are the trachea, two bronchial tubes, the bronchioles, and the lungs. The upper and lower respiratory tracts come together to make up the entire respiratory system.
Why is aerobic endurance important in any sport?
Muscular endurance is very important for people playing sports and who have to sustain an activity for long periods of time. Muscular endurance is determined by how well your slow twitch muscle fibers are developed.
What happens when you inhale and when you exhale?
CO2 is released in the process of expansion and deflation of the diaphrams
when you exhale (breathe out), you let out C2O (carbon dioxide). When you breath out, your diaphragm moves downwards, and your ribs move up and outwards
