Describe the Anatomy & Physiology of the Respiratory System Flashcards
What is the Respiratory System’s main function?
Perform critical tasks involved in transporting oxygen from the atmosphere into the body’s cells and removing carbon dioxide from the body’s cells
What is the process of bringing oxygen into the lungs?
Ventilation or breathing
Explain how air travels
Air enters through nasal openings, move into the nasal cavity, and travels past the pharynx (throat) and into the trachea. Air continues to the first division of the trachea: the right and left bronchus. The air in the right bronchus continues to the right lung and the air in the left bronchus continues to the left lung. The right and left bronchi subdivide into smaller and smaller tubes called bronchioles
Where do Bronchioles terminate?
In Alveoli
What is Alveoli?
Site of gas exchange
What is Alveoli bathed in?
Aqueous surfactant
What is Aqueous Surfactant?
Serves as a medium for gas exchange and keeps the lungs from collapsing on itself by maintaining surface tension
Which lung is larger?
The right lung because the heart is on the left side and allows more space
How many lobes does the right lung have and what are they?
3: Superior, Middle, and Inferior
How many lobes does the left lung have and what are they?
2: Superior and Inferior
What is each lobe divided into?
Bronchopulmonary segments
What is each lobe contained with and surrounded by?
Pleura and Pleura fluid
What is Pleura?
Tough protective double membrane contained in the lobes of the lungs
Where are the lungs located?
In the Thoracic cavity
Is the heart part of the respiratory system?
No
The heart’s pulmonary system sends blood ___ in oxygen and ___ in carbon dioxide to the lungs where oxygen is ___ and carbon dioxide is ___
Low, High, Picked up, Dropped off
As oxygen is consumed by the cells, the blood becomes ___ and is returned to the ___
Deoxygenated, Heart
Gas exchange in the lungs occurs by
Diffusion
What is diffusion?
A passive transport mechanism
What happens during diffusion?
Oxygen in the lungs moves into the blood, and carbon dioxide in the blood moves into the lungs
Where do the lungs exhale the carbon dioxide into?
The atmosphere
When the heart pulmonary vessels enter the lungs, the blood has a ___ concentration of oxygen, whereas recently inhaled air in the alveoli has a ___ concentration of oxygen compared to the capillaries
Low, High
Molecules move from regions of ___ concentrations to ___ concentrations
High, Low
What allows diffusion?
The thin alveolar epithelium
Inhalation brings in ___, Exhalation releases ___
Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide
Ventilation occurs as a combination of
Muscle action and negative pressure
What contracts simultaneously to increase the volume of the lungs?
The diaphragm and the intercostal muscles of the ribs
___ and ___ from lungs clear out air rich in carbon dioxide and replace it with air rich in oxygen
Periodic Inspiration, Expiration
What is Tidal Volume?
The amount of air breathed in and out of the lungs
What is the residual capacity?
A small amount of air rich in carbon dioxide that remains trapped in alveoli after expiration and mixes with the air rich in oxygen brought in through inspiration
What is the breathing centers of the brain?
Medulla Oblongata
What does the Medulla Oblongata do?
Controls respiration through monitoring carbon dioxide levels and blood pH
If blood pH starts to decrease/increase, then respiration rates will ___/___ to balance carbon dioxide and oxygen levels
Increase, Decrease
What are some environmental pollutants that can impede lung function?
Chemicals, pollen, and smoke
What can environmental pollutants cause?
Damaging cilia or causing emphysema, allergies, and inflammation
What is Asthma?
A condition in which the airways of respiratory system narrow resulting from the swelling of the airways or from mucous build up. Thus, making it difficult to inhale and exhale normal amounts of air
What are some genetic conditions that can impede lung action?
Lung surfactant insufficiency, asthma, and cystic fibrosis
What are some pathogens that effect lung function and causes diseases?
Influenza, tuberculosis, and pneumonia
