Module 2 - Resp

Question 1

What is external respiration?

Answer 1

The movement of gases between the environment and the cells of the body.

Question 2

What is internal respiration?

Answer 2

The movement of gases from the lungs, through the bloodstream, and to the cells.

Question 3

What is the upper respiratory system, and what are its functions?

Answer 3

nose, pharynx, and associated structures. Functions include warming, humidifying, filtering air, olfaction (smell), and speech resonance.

Question 4

What is the lower respiratory system, and what are its functions?

Answer 4

larynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs. Functions involve protecting the airway, conducting air to the lungs, and enabling gas exchange.

Question 5

What are alveolar pneumocytes, and what are their types?

Answer 5

Alveolar pneumocytes are cells in the alveoli.

Type 1: Simple squamous epithelial cells, forming the walls of the respiratory membrane.

Type 2: Simple cuboidal epithelial cells, producing surfactant to reduce surface tension.

Question 6

What is Boyle’s Law?

Answer 6

The volume of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure at a constant temperature. In respiration, as lung volume increases, pressure decreases, causing air to flow in.

Question 7

What is the role of the pleura in the respiratory system?

Answer 7

The pleura are membranes surrounding the lungs and lining the thoracic cavity. They reduce friction during breathing and help keep the lungs expanded.

Question 8

What is the function of the diaphragm in respiration?

Answer 8

The diaphragm contracts to increase the thoracic cavity’s volume during inhalation, decreasing pressure and drawing air into the lungs.

Question 9

What is pulmonary circulation?

Answer 9

The process that conducts blood from the heart to and from the gas exchange surfaces of the lungs.

Question 10

What are the three main factors that influence respiration?

Answer 10

Compliance (ease of lung expansion), airway resistance, and elastic recoil (lungs returning to their resting state).

Question 11

What is airway resistance?

Answer 11

The opposition to the flow of air through the respiratory tract, which is influenced by the airway’s length, radius, and cross-sectional area.

Question 12

What is elastic recoil?

Answer 12

The tendency of the lungs to return to their normal state after being stretched or filled with air. It counteracts compliance

Question 13

What are bronchioles, and how do they function?

Answer 13

Small airways in the lungs that lack cartilage and are surrounded by smooth muscle, allowing them to regulate airflow by contracting and relaxing.

Question 14

What is the role of surfactant in the lungs?

Answer 14

a detergent-like mixture of phospholipids and proteins that reduces surface tension within the alveoli, preventing their collapse and aiding in efficient gas exchange. Without surfactant, the alveoli would tend to collapse, making breathing difficult.

Question 15

What is Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures?

Answer 15

The total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each gas.

Question 16

What is Henry’s Law, and how does it relate to gas exchange?

Answer 16

The amount of dissolved gas in a liquid is proportional to the partial pressure of that gas above the liquid.

For respiration, it explains how oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in blood based on their partial pressures in the alveoli.

Question 17

What is Fick’s Law of Diffusion, and how does it apply to the alveoli?

Answer 17

Fick’s Law states that the rate of gas diffusion across a membrane is proportional to the surface area and the concentration gradient and inversely proportional to the membrane’s thickness.

In the alveoli, this means that a larger surface area and thinner membrane facilitate more efficient gas exchange.

Question 18

What is ventilation-perfusion coupling?

Answer 18

The relationship between the amount of air reaching the alveoli (ventilation) and the amount of blood reaching the alveoli (perfusion). For optimal gas exchange, these two processes must be closely matched.

Question 19

What is the role of hemoglobin in oxygen transport?

Answer 19

Hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, binds to oxygen molecules in the lungs and carries them to tissues throughout the body. Approximately 98.5% of oxygen in the blood is bound to hemoglobin, forming oxyhemoglobin.

Question 20

What is the Haldane Effect?

Answer 20

How oxygen binds to hemoglobin in the lungs reduces hemoglobin’s ability to bind carbon dioxide and protons, facilitating their release and exhalation. In tissues, the release of oxygen increases hemoglobin’s capacity to bind carbon dioxide and protons, aiding in their removal.

Question 21

What is alveolar interdependence, and why is it important?

Answer 21

Structural support alveoli provide each other, preventing collapse. When one alveolus starts to collapse, surrounding alveoli recoil, pulling it open and maintaining overall lung stability.

Question 22

What is the Medulla Oblongata’s role in respiratory regulation?

Answer 22

It contains the Dorsal Respiratory Group (DRG) and Ventral Respiratory Group (VRG), which control the rhythm of breathing and the muscles involved in inspiration and expiration.

Question 23

What is the Dorsal Respiratory Group (DRG)?

Answer 23

A group of neurons located in the nucleus tractus solitarius in the medulla oblongata that primarily controls the muscles involved in inspiration.

Question 24

What is the function of the Pons Respiratory Center?

Answer 24

It fine-tunes the breathing pattern by integrating inputs from higher brain centers and peripheral sensory receptors, and modulates the activity of the DRG and VRG.

Question 25

What are Chemoreceptors?

Answer 25

Sensory receptors sensitive to changes in blood levels of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and pH, which send signals to the respiratory centers to adjust ventilation rates.

Question 26

What are Stretch Receptors in the respiratory system?

Answer 26

Located in the walls of the airways, these receptors detect lung inflation and send inhibitory signals to the medulla to end inspiration, preventing over-inflation.

Question 26

What is the Hering-Breuer Reflex?

Answer 26

A reflex triggered to prevent over-inflation of the lungs, mediated by stretch receptors sending signals to the medulla to stop inhalation.

Question 27

What is the difference between Obstructive and Restrictive Pulmonary Diseases?

Answer 27

Obstructive diseases impede airflow (e.g., asthma, COPD), while restrictive diseases limit lung expansion (e.g., pulmonary fibrosis, chest wall deformities).