Download The Amazing Respiratory System

The Respiratory
System
By: Jenny, Priti, & Lindsay
Functions of the System
The main function of the respiratory system is rather simple in concept: to bring in
oxygen from the atmosphere and get rid of carbon dioxide from the blood.You breathe
in oxygen rich air and you breathe out carbon dioxide rich air. When you breathe in the
oxygen rich air, it goes through the nasal cavity where dust and dirt are swept up by
tiny hairs. Since oxygen and carbon dioxide are gases, the process of bringing one in
and excreting the other is called gas exchange.
While the intake of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide are the primary functions
of the respiratory system, it plays other important roles in the body. The respiratory
system helps regulate the balance of acid and base in tissues, a process crucial for the
normal functioning of cells. It protects the body against disease-causing organisms and
toxic substances inhaled with air.
The respiratory and circulatory systems work together to deliver oxygen to cells and
remove carbon dioxide in a two-phase process called respiration.
The first phase of respiration begins with breathing in, or inhalation. Inhalation
brings air from outside the body into the lungs. Oxygen in the air moves from the
lungs through blood vessels to the heart, which pumps the oxygen-rich blood to all
parts of the body. Oxygen then moves from the bloodstream into cells, which
completes the first phase of respiration.
Functions of the System Cont.
In the cells, oxygen is used in a separate energy-producing process called cellular
respiration, which produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
The second phase of respiration begins with the movement of carbon dioxide from the
cells to the bloodstream. The bloodstream carries carbon dioxide to the heart, which
pumps the carbon dioxide-laden blood to the lungs. In the lungs, breathing out, or
exhalation, removes carbon dioxide from the body, thus completing the respiration
cycle.
Problems and Diseases
Bronchitis
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Inflammation of the bronchi (air
passages connecting the windpipe with
the sacs of the lung).
Symptoms are fever, coughing, spitting,
and a severe cold. This could continue
for months and return each year.
Cigarette smoking and environmental
pollution are the main causes of
bronchitis.
Also caused by various infections which
damage and weaken the bronchial walls
The best treatment for bronchitis is
prevention which means no smoking.
Various antibiotics are also given.
Bronchitis is a preventable disease rare in
non-smokers. Infants and children
generally get it more often than adults.
Tuberculosis
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The disease is caused by Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, a rod- shaped bacterium.
•
Symptoms of TB include coughing, chest pain,
shortness of breath, loss of appetite, weight
loss, fever, chills, and fatigue.
•
Children and people with weakened immune
systems are the most susceptible to TB. Half
of all untreated TB cases are fatal.
•
Vaccines, such as the Bacillus Calmette Guerin
(BCG) are the most effective in preventing
tuberculosis.
•
Ventilation systems lessen the chance of
infection by dispersing the bacteria. Ultraviolet
lighting also reduces, but does not eliminate,
the threat of infection by killing TB bacteria in
confined spaces.
Problems and Diseases Cont.
WHAT IS PNEUMONIA?
Pneumonia is a serious infection or
inflammation of your lungs. The air sacs
In the lungs fill with pus and other liquid.
Oxygen has trouble reaching your blood.
If there is too little oxygen in your
blood, your body cells can't work
properly. Because of this and spreading
infection through the body pneumonia
can cause death.
CAUSES OF PNEUMONIA
Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can
have over 30 different causes. There are
five main causes of pneumonia:
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Mycoplasmas
• Other infectious agents, such as fungi –
including pneumocystis
• Various chemicals
WHAT IS EMPHYSEMA?
Emphysema is a condition in which
there is over-inflation of structures
in the lungs known as alveoli or air
sacs. This over-inflation results from
a breakdown of the walls of the
alveoli, which causes a decrease in
respiratory function (the way the
Lungs work) and often,
breathlessness.
CAUSES OF EMPHYSEMA
The elastic fibers in the lung allow
the lungs to expand and contract.
When the chemical balance is
altered, the lungs lose the ability
to protect themselves against the
destruction of these elastic fibers.
This is what happens in
emphysema.
Asthma
WHAT IS ASTHMA?
Asthma is a lung disease. It can be life threatening. Asthma is chronic. In other words, you live with
it every day. Asthma causes breathing problems. These breathing problems are called attacks or
episodes of asthma.
AN ASTHMA ATTACK
Doctors are not exactly certain how you get asthma. But they do know that once you have it, your
lungs react to things that can start an asthma attack.
For instance, when you have asthma, you might get an asthma attack when you have a cold (or some
other kind of respiratory infection). Or, you might get an attack when you breathe something that
bothers your lungs (such as cigarette smoke, dust or feathers).
When this happens, three changes take place in your lungs:
 Cells in your air tubes make more mucus than normal. This mucus is very thick and sticky. It
tends to clog up the tubes.
 The air tubes tend to swell, just as skin swells when you get a scrape.
 The muscles in your air tubes tighten.
 These changes cause the air tubes to narrow. This makes it hard to breathe.
 Asthma attacks may start suddenly. Or they may take a long time, even days, to develop. Attacks
can be severe, moderate or mild.
What Our System Looks Like
This system includes the lungs, pathways connecting them to the outside environment, and
structures in the chest involved with moving air in and out of the lungs.
Air enters the body through the nose, is warmed, filtered, and passed through the nasal
cavity. Air passes the pharynx. The upper part of the trachea contains the larynx. The vocal
cords are two bands of tissue that extend across the opening of the larynx. After passing the
larynx, the air moves into the bronchi that carry air in and out of the lungs.
Bronchi are reinforced to prevent their collapse and are lined with ciliated epithelium and
mucus-producing cells. Bronchi branch into smaller and smaller tubes known as bronchioles.
Bronchioles terminate in grape-like sac clusters known as alveoli. Alveoli are surrounded by a
network of thin-walled capillaries. Only about 0.2 µm separate the alveoli from the capillaries
due to the extremely thin walls of both structures.
More Diagrams
 Ventilation is the mechanics of breathing in and out. When you inhale, muscles in the chest
wall contract, lifting the ribs and pulling them, outward. The diaphragm at this time moves
downward enlarging the chest cavity. Reduced air pressure in the lungs causes air to enter
the lungs. Exhaling reverses theses steps.
 The lungs are large, lobed, paired organs in the chest (also known as the thoracic cavity).
Thin sheets of epithelium (pleura) separate the inside of the chest cavity from the outer
surface of the lungs.The bottom of the thoracic cavity is formed by the diaphragm.
New Technology
A University of Pittsburgh researcher who has developed a device that functions
like a temporary set of of lungs told a group of heart and lung transplant surgeons
today that such technology could have a tremendous impact for the nearly
750,000 patients with emphysema, chest trauma or acute respiratory distress,
about 150,00 of whom die each year.
April 27, 2001 researchers from the university of Pittsburgh led to the development
of the Hattler Respiratory Catheter. It’s designed that it can effectively carbon
dioxide and oxygen in patients with comprised lungs, allowing their own lungs to
rest and heal. The intravenous devise is inserted through a vein in the leg and
positioned in the main vein that returns blood to the heart.
The artificial will also help people suffering from chronic obstructive lung disease,
in which lungs are damaged. The artificial lung will take over the job of putting
fresh oxygen in blood for up to two weeks.
A lung transplant is donated from a human who has been declared brain-dead but
remains on life-support. Tissue matches must be made to assure the patients best
chance of fighting off rejection of the transplanted tissue. While the patient is deep
asleep and pain-free, an incision is made through the sternum. Tubes are used to
re-route the blood to a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygenated
and circulating during the surgery.
Factoids
 Your lungs contain almost 1500 miles of airways and
over 300 million alveoli.
 Every minute you breathe in 13 pints of air.
 Plants are our partners in breathing. We breathe in air,
use the oxygen, and release carbon dioxide. Plants take in
carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Thank God!
 People tend to get more colds in the winter because
we’re indoors more often and in close proximity to other
people. When people sneeze, cough and breathe– germs
go flying!
Bibliography
http://www.lungusa.org
http://www.eb.com:180/
http://tmx.com/fun/roadmap/respirat.htm
Frost, Helen . The Respiratory System. Mankato,
MN: Pebble Books, 2001.
Stille, Darlene R. The Respiratory System. New York:
Children's P, 1997.
Sebel, Peter . Respiration, the breath of life . New York:
Torstar Books, 1985.
THE END