1. Organisation of Respiratory System Flashcards
What is the general function of respiration?
To obtain O2 for use by the body’s cells and to eliminate the CO2 the body cells produce
What are the two separate processes of respiration?
- Internal respiration
- External respiration (4 processes)
What is involved in internal respiration?
Oxidative phosphorylation
What is involved in external respiration?
Exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between atmosphere and body tissues
What does cellular respiration refer to?
Refers to metabolic processes carried out within the mitochondria, which use O2 and produce CO2, while deriving energy from nutrient molecules
External and internal respiration diagram
Secondary functions of respiration x 7
- Short term regulation of pH (acid-base balance)
- Enabling speech, singing, and other vocalizations
- Help in defense against pathogens in the airways
- Removes, modifies, activates (i.e. angiotensin II), or inactivates (i.e. prostaglandins) various materials passing through the pulmonary circulation
- Eliminates heat and water
- Assist venous return
- Nose serves as the organ of smell
Upper airways x 3
- Nasal cavity (nose)
- Oral cavity
- Pharynx (common passageway for respiratory and digestive systems)
Airways from pharynx to lungs x 3
- Larynx
- Conducting zone
- Respiratory zone
Conducting zone and respiratory zone diagram
List x 6 structures of the conducting zone
- Trachea
- Primary bronchi
- Secondary bronchi
- Tertiary bronchi
- Bronchioles
- Terminal bronchioles
Diameter, length of trachea
2.5 cm diameter, 10 cm long
What makes up the trachea?
C-shaped bands of cartilage for structural rigidity
How many secondary bronchi are there?
– Right side - 3 (to 3 lobes of right lung)
– Left side - 2 (to 2 lobes of left lung)
How much branching in tertiary bronchi?
20-23 orders of branching
How many tubules in tertiary bronchi?
Up to 8 million
Bronchioles - is cartilage present? what is there instead?
No cartilage, risk of collapse.
To prevent: walls of elastic fibres + smooth muscle
Air passageway
150 mL volume = dead space volume
Functions of the conducting zone x 3
- Air passageway
- Increase air temperature to body temperature
- Humidify air
Cells of the conducting zone and functions
• Goblet cells – secret mucus and traps foreign particles
• Ciliated cells – propel the mucus up the glottis to be
swallowed or expelled
• Process: Mucus escalator
Structures of the respiratory zone x 4
- Respiratory bronchioles
- Alveolar ducts
- Alveolar sacs
- Alveoli
Function of the Respiratory Zone
• Exchange of gases between air and blood by diffusion
Epithelium of the Respiratory Zone
Respiratory membrane
– Epithelial cells of alveoli
– Endothelial cells of capillary
Detail chart of cells, structures etc (to have a general idea)