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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 50 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Respiratory System
chest . The thoracic cavity is part of the upper respiratory tract.
Laryngoscopy. A bronchoscopy is a visual examination of the bronchi a tracheostomy is a surgical procedure to make an opening into the throat and spirometry is a pulmonary function test.
Infants. RSV is a type of virus the causes cells to mesh rather than remain singular. In adults, in produces only coldlike symptoms, but children can become extremely ill with pneumonia, an inflammation of lung tissue.
Pleura. The pleura is a thin, moist membrane that allows the lungs and ribs to move smoothly against each other during respiration.
Thyroid cartilage. The glottis is the area between the vocal cords the epiglottis covers the larynx during swallowing , preventing food from entering the trachea, or windpipe.
inspiration . With every inspiration through the nose or mouth, we inhale oxygen, use it, and convert it into carbon dioxide, which is expelled with every expiration.
pulmonologist . The respiratory system is composed of the nose, mouth, pharynx, epiglottis, esophagus, trachea, lungs, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli.
lung. Lung cancer kills more people than all other types of cancer according to both the American Cancer Society and the Canadian Cancer Society.
| The test in which a camera is introduced into the lungs via the trachea is called_________? | The Respiratory System
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bronchoscopy. Endoscopy introduces the camera into the other end (colon).
Spirometry measures lung volumes.
Pneumonectomy is the surgical removal of a lung.
| The relationship between dissolved oxygen and haemoglobin-bound oxygen and their affinity for each other is known as the what? | The Respiratory System
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Oxy-haemoglobin dissociation curve. The oxy-haemoglobin curve is a graphical illustration of the relationship between dissolved and bound oxygen in the blood. The affinity of oxygen is responsible for the position of the curve wherein a given Pao2 yields a predictable oxygen saturation.
| In the lungs, oxygen and carbon dioxide move in and out of the alveoli and capillary network by which process? | The Respiratory System
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Diffusion. Diffusion is the intermixing of gases or molecules from a higher concentration to a lower concentration so they are equally distributed.
Osmosis refers to the movement of fluids from a higher to a lower concentration.
Convection is the movement of solutes by an externally driven force. It is used in renal dialysis.
Active transport is a renal concept when a substance binds with a carrier in order to cross a semipermeable membrane.
| Here's an easier one. Which respiratory disease do dyspnoea, wheezing and difficulty exhaling most commonly characterize?
| The Respiratory System
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Asthma. Asthma needs no introduction. The majority of children with asthma experience its onset within the first two years of life, but it can occur in those as young as a few weeks. Attacks can vary greatly from occasional periods of wheezing and slight dyspnoea to severe attacks that almost cause suffocation.
A partial collapse of some alveoli. Atelectasis may result from imperfect expansion of the lungs at birth, or as a result of disease when the small air passages are narrowed and air cannot reach the alveoli.
Carina. The carina is the keel shaped cartilage at the base of the trachea where it branches into the right and left main bronchi. It sits approximately the level of the aortic arch, the fifth thoracic vertebra, or just below the level of the angle of Louis.
Pneumothorax. When air or gas escapes from the lung tissue into the chest cavity, it forces the lung to deflate, rather like a balloon. It may happen spontaneously in the setting of a pulmonary disease, or it may follow trauma to the chest wall. A haemothorax is a collection of blood in the pleural cavity, and a haemopneumothorax is a collection of air and blood.
Pleura. The pleura is a double layered serous membrane that covers the lungs (the pulmonary or visceral pleura) and lines the walls of the thoracic cavity (the parietal pleura). The potential space between the two layers is called the pleural cavity.
Materials science. The amazing properties of slug mucus, which allows it to climb smooth surfaces, has been investigated as an ultra efficient water absorbing polymer. By studying the way it works scientists have put it to use as a possible solution in many applications "The researchers foresee many potential applications of slug slime technology in materials science and bioengineering: new drug delivery systems, pollutant traps for sewage treatment plants, and water-based lubricants, for example."
I hope none of you chose the pizza topping...
It is internal and produces mucus. There is a subtle but definite change between our skin and the mucous membrane, technical term mucosa. The mouth is a good example, all the smooth wet areas inside are mucosa, and secrete saliva in cells similar to mucus producing ones. The vagina and male foreskin are also internal surfaces, producing lubricating mucus rather than skin which always has a layer of epidermis and does not have any mucus producing capabilities. They do produce sweat but this is wet not slimy and a different substance altogether.
To stop people wiping their nose on them. The most accepted designer of this accessory was George Washington, whose army fought and caught colds, and were added to stop them using them to wipe their noses. They may now appear to be fashion accessories as they appear to have no other function, but will deter any attempt to be lazy and use the sleeve. I've also heard Napoleon may have been responsible but people like to blame most things on him!
Shirt cuffs use buttons to do them up, but jacket buttons normally have a few in a row which do nothing at all but are just sewn on. Although some do use interesting looking fancy buttons that is adding form to function; the accepted explanation was the function came first.
No. It's rare but the two common colouring bacteria in mucus usually even out to green. But in the rare cases where the Pseudomonas aeruginosa/pyocyanaea (cyan meaning blue) outnumber enough Staphylococcus aureus which is yellow, the bogies produced are a cyan shade of blue. I've yet to actually see any though.
Sputum is anything coughed up including phlegm. A doctor or nurse needs to know these differences. In respiratory diseases many clues can be gained from analysing the sputum coughed up, and it describes any substance ejected from the lungs, which is most frequently phlegm but you can probably imagine the alternatives.
An adjective. Although it galls me every time someone spells the substance with an o, the o makes it a description rather than a substance. The commonest usage is in 'mucous membrane', the membranes in the body that are lubricated with and produce mucus.
Circulatory system. Of course the mucus we're most familiar with is respiratory mucus, especially from the nose and lungs. But without a mucus lining the stomach would digest itself, and it lubricates and protects all three systems. In the circulatory system it would simply block the flow.
They carry deoxygenated blood. Every artery in the human body except pulmonary arteries carries oxygenated blood. For this reason, the definition of an artery is a vessel which carries blood AWAY from the heart.
Every vein in the human body carries oxygenated blood, except for pulmonary veins. As above, for this reason, the definition of a vein is a vessel which carries blood TOWARDS the heart.
Pulmonary arteries divide, following branching patterns of bronchi, i.e. to the lungs, to the lobes, to the segments. This means each lung segment is an independent unit with its own air and blood supply.
Deoxygenated blood to the lungs, oxygenated blood to the heart. Deoxygenated blood is pumped from the heart to the lung capillaries. Here, gas exchange takes place and carbon dioxide is removed and oxygen binds to haemoglobin. The blood, now oxygenated, goes back to the heart. This is known as pulmonary circulation.
When the oxygenated blood reaches the heart, it is pumped to the tissue capillaries in the rest of the body. Here, gas exchange takes place, with oxygen being delivered to the tissues. Finally, the deoxygenated blood returns to the heart and the cycle begins again. This is known as systemic circulation.
Cardiovascular System. As the respiratory system provides oxygen, it does have links with the function of everything in the human body.
However, it has a strong link with the cardiovascular system, as blood acts as the transport medium for oxygen and carbon dioxide. It brings deoxygenated blood to the lungs and transports oxygenated blood back to the heart, ready to be pumped around the body.
To the lung lobes. The trachea first splits into two primary bronchi which lead to the left and right lung.
Primary bronchi then divide into secondary bronchi, which lead to the lobes of the lung. The right lung has three lobes (superior, middle and inferior) and the left lung has two lobes (superior and inferior). The left lung only has two lobes as the area where the middle lobe would be is home to the heart instead.
Secondary bronchi then divide into tertiary bronchi which lead to the subdivisions of the lobes, known as segments.
Tertiary bronchi divide into bronchioles which eventually divide into terminal bronchioles, leading to the alveoli where gas exchange takes place.
All of these options (It warms the inspired air, It moistens the inspired air, It filters the inspired air). The conducting portion of the respiratory system warms, moistens and filters inspired air. This is known as conditioning.
Body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius, but inspired air is rarely at this temperature, so this is why the air is warmed. The air is moistened as it helps with absorption and diffusion, hence why breath is very humid. It is filtered to remove anything harmful to the lungs and body.
The respiratory portion of the respiratory system contains thin, moist delicate membranes across which gas exchange occurs.
| The primary function of the respiratory system is gas exchange, but it also involved in speech and smell. Which part of the respiratory system does air pass over to give rise to our sense of smell? | The Respiratory System and Pulmonary Circulation
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Olfactory Mucosa. Gas exchange is where oxygen is transported from the air to the blood so it can be delivered to our organs. It is also the removal of waste carbon dioxide from the blood, where it is the expirated into the air. The gases move by diffusion between blood capillaries and alveoli.
Speech and smell are secondary functions of the respiratory system. When air passes over the olfactory mucosa it gives rise to our sense of smell.
Air passing through the larynx is responsible for speech, hence why it is also known as the voicebox.
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