All Flashcards
What are the organs of the upper respiratory tract?
Nose, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and pharynx
The lower respiratory tract includes the
Larynx, trachea, bronchial tree, and lungs
What does the nasal septum do?
Divides the nasal cavity into right and left portions
What does the nasal cavity include?
An extensive network of blood vessels and mucus membranes
What happens when air passes over the mucus membrane in the nasal cavity?
Heat leaves the blood and warms the air, adjusting the temperature to that of the body’s temperature
How is air adjusted to the temp of the body in the nasal cavity?
Air passes over the mucus membrane and the blood’s heat is used to warm it
When is air moistened?
When water evaporates from the mucus lining
What happens to dust particles that enter the nasal cavity?
A sticky mucus entrails them
What happens to mucus that is within the nasal cavity?
It is eventually swallowed and the gastric juices destroy microorganisms in the mucus
Where are the paranasal sinuses found?
The maxillary, frontal, and sphenoid bones of the skull
What fills the paranasal sinuses?
Air
Where is the pharynx located?
Behind the oral cavity and larynx
The pharynx aka
Throat
What is the pharynx?
The passageway for food traveling from the oral cavity to the esophagus and for air passing between the nasal cavity and the larynx
What is the larynx?
An enlargement in the airway at the top of the trachea and below the pharynx
What does the larynx do?
It conducts air in and out of the trachea and prevents foreign objects from entering the trachea
What does the larynx house?
The vocal cords
What controls the pitch of a sound?
Contracting or relaxing muscles that alter the tension on the vocal cords
What causes the intensity of loudness of a sound?
The force of air passing through the vocal cords
During normal breathing, the vocal cords are _____ and the ____ between them is called the _____ , which is a _____
Relaxed
Opening
Glottis
A triangular slit
When food is swallowed, what happens to muscles within the false vocal cords?
The close the glottis, which prevents food from entering the trachea
What does the epiglottis do?
Prevents food from entering the larynx
The trachea extends
Downward and splits into the right and left bronchi
What lines the trachea’s inner wall?
A ciliated mucous membrane
What does the mucous membrane within the trachea do? How?
Filters air entering the lungs
Because it’s ciliated
What are found in the trachea’s wall?
About 20 C-shaped pieces of hyaline cartilage rings stacked on each other
What do the hyaline cartilage rings of the trachea do?
Keep the trachea from collapsing
What do alveoli within the lungs provide?
A large surface area of thin simple squamous epithelial cells through which gas can easily be exchanged
What are alveoli?
Thin simple squamous epithelial cells
What does oxygen in alveoli in the lungs do?
Diffuses into the blood in nearby capillaries
CO2 diffuses from blood in capillaries into
In exchange for
Alveoli
Oxygen
What are the lungs?
Soft, spongy, cone shaped organs in the thoracic cavity
Which lung is largest?
The right lung
The right lungs is divided into how many lobes?
3
The left lungs is divided into
Two lobes
Breathing consists of _____ and ______.
Inspiration / inhalation
Expiration / exhalation
What moves air into the lungs?
Atmospheric pressure due to the weight of air
If the pressure inside the lungs and alveoli decreases, what does atmospheric pressure do? What is this process of breathing called?
It pushes outside air into the airways
Inspiration/ inhalation
What happens to the diaphragm and the thoracic cavity in inhalation?
The diaphragm (below the lungs) contracts and moves air downward while the thoracic cavity enlarges, forcing air into the airways
What happens to the external (inspiratory) intercostal muscles between the rigs while the diaphragm contracts?
They may be stimulated to contract (raising the ribs and enlarging the thoracic cavity)
What are the muscles between the ribs called?
External (inspiratory) intercostal muscles
What is surface tension?
A force which can make it difficult to inflate the alveoli and could cause the alveoli to collapse
When is surfactant most important?
In the minutes directly after birth
What is surfactant?
A mix of lipids and proteins which prevents the collapsing of alveoli
What do premature babies often suffer from and why?
Respiratory distress syndrome
Because not enough surfactant is being produced
What do the forces of expiration come from?
The elastic recoil of tissues and from surface tension
Where is a lot of elastic tissue found?
In the lungs and thoracic walls
When does elastic tissue in the lungs and thoracic walls stretch?
With lung expansion during inspiration
As the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles (of the ribs) relax following inspiration, the elastic tissues
Cause the lungs and thoracic cage to recoil and return to their original shape
What are 5 non-respiratory movements?
Coughing, sneezing, laughing, yanking, and hiccups
What is a respiratory cycle?
One inspiration plus the following expiration
What is tidal volume?
The volume of air that enters or leaves during a single respiratory cycle
What are the percentages that make up ordinary air?
21% O2 and 78% nitrogen
What does almost all of the oxygen that is transported by blood do? What does the remaining oxygen do?
It binds to the hemoglobin in red blood cells
It is dissolved in plasma
How can a person increase breath holding time? What is this called?
By breathing rapidly and deeply in advance
Hyperventilation
What are non-respiratory movements? What are they for?
Air movements that occur in addition to breatning
To clear air passages, ie coughing and sneezing, and to express emotion, ie laughing and crying
What do non-respiratory movements result from?
Reflexes, although sometimes they are initiated voluntarily
How can a cough be produced?
Through conscious effort or being triggered by a foreign object in an air passage
What is laryngitis?
Hoarseness or lack of voice
What causes a sneeze?
A mild irritation in the lining of the nasal cavity
Laughing and crying both involve
Taking a breath and releasing it in a series of short expirations
What causes a hiccup?
Sudden inspiration due to a spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm while the glottis is closed
What may yawning be for?
Aiding respiration by providing an occasional deep breath for ventilating the alveoli
Tidal volume (TV) is
500 mLs
Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV) is
3,000 mL
Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)
1,100 mLs
Vital capacity (VC)
4,600 mLs
What two groups can the organs of the respiratory system be divided into?
The upper respiratory tract and lower respiratory tract
Upper tract: nose, naval cavity, paranasal sinuses, and pharynx
Lower tract: larynx, trachea, bronchial tree, and lungs
What is Laryngitis?
Hoarseness or lack of voice
What does laryngitis occur?
When the mucous membrane of the larynx becomes inflamed and swollen because of an infection or irritation from inhaled vapors and prevents the vocal cords from vibrating freely as before
When can laryngitis be dangerous, not mild?
If swollen tissues obstruct the airway and interfere with breathing
How can the air passageway be restored in laryngitis?
By inserting an endotracheal tube into the trachea through the nose or mouth
Where are the right superior and right inferior lobes?
Superior- the upper lobe
Inferior- lower lobe
Separated by right middle lobe
Name the 5 lobes of the lungs:
Right superior (upper) lobe Right middle lobe Right inferior (lower) lobe Left superior (upper) lobe Left inferior (lower) lobe
What do the lungs contain?(6)
Air passages, alveoli, blood vessels, connective tissues, lymphatic vessels, and nerves of the lower respiratory tract
What is emphysema?
A progressive, degenerative disease that destroys alveolar walls
What happens as a result of emphysema?
Clusters of small air sacs merge to form larger chambers, which drastically decreases the surface area of the respiratory membrane and thereby reduces the volume of gases that can be exchanged through the membrane
What happens to alveolar walls because of emphysema?
They lose some of their elasticity and capillary networks associated with the alveoli diminish
What is lung cancer?
Like any other cancers, it is an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells that rob normal cells of nutrients and oxygen, eventually crowding them out
What are some causes of secondary lung cancer?
Cancerous growths in the lungs result from cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) from other parts of the lungs
