The Respiratory System Why do we need to

The Respiratory System

Why do we need to breathe? The respiratory system’s main job is to exchange gases in the lungs. It’s because the sugar you eat (glucose) that serves as the primary source of energy for your body really acts as a storage box of energy. To get that energy free from the glucose so that your cells can use it, your cells carry out a process called respiration that involves reacting glucose with oxygen to free up energy. You get the glucose from digesting food, you get the oxygen from breathing. THAT’s why you have to breathe to stay alive. Cellular Respiration Glucose + O 2 water (waste) + CO 2 (waste) + ENERGY!

The whole system… All your cells are doing…

FUNCTIONS of the Resp. Sys. 1. Gets oxygen from air for body’s cells (inhaling) 2. Gets rid of carbon dioxide waste from cells (exhaling) 3. Allows us to speak

How do we actually breathe? What actually causes air to fill our lungs when we breathe in? ? ? the diaphragm muscle (in red) pulls down on the lungs, making them bigger, which creates empty space (a vacuum) that air rushes in to fill. When we exhale, the diaphragm just pushes up on the lungs, like when you squeeze a balloon to let the air out quicker.

STRUCTURES of the Respiratory System The respiratory system is laid out as a tract. A tract is a series of organs that are arranged one after another. 1. Nose/sinuses – make air warm, moist, and clean (hairs/mucus). Sinuses affect your voice. The nose is just better at preparing air for your lungs than your mouth is. . Nose/Sinuses

Once cleaned & prepped by your nose, the air continues back toward your throat. 2. Pharynx – throat…both food and air pass. Epiglottis keeps you from choking on food/drinks. 3. Larynx – vocal cords: vibrate to make noise as you exhale. In combination with the different shapes your tongue, lips, etc. can form, you have the ability to make hundreds of different sounds. Place your Finger on your larynx and make these sounds: s, z, p, b, f, v

Air continues on its journey to the lungs… 4. Trachea – windpipe. This is held open by rings of cartilage so that it doesn’t collapse shut when you inhale. The trachea splits into two… 5. Bronchi/bronchioles – smaller passages that split heading into the lungs.

Air is now finally inside the… 6. Lungs – spongy organs filled with alveoli—tiny air sacs that have two jobs: a. stuff O 2 into capillaries (where RBCs will carry it to body) b. allow CO 2 into bronchioles (where it can be exhaled out) bronchioles end as alveoli & are surrounded by capillaries gas exchange between alveoli and capillaries

And of course, since the organs make a tract, air just reverses through them as the diaphragm pushes and you exhale. Every time you exhale, you release waste gases into the air, or into a bubble, into a trumpet, or whatever. Plants love it though…our waste is their treasure!

How Smoking Affects the Respiratory System Smoking kills little hairs in your respiratory tract that move mucus around. This causes that annoying “smoker’s cough” that you often hear. It causes an extreme shortness of breath called emphysema, which would affect your daily life.

Disorder: BRONCHITIS There are several disorders that aren’t necessarily somebody’s “fault” for having. You’ve heard of at least a couple of these, I’m sure. 1. Bronchitis – “itis” means “inflammation or infection of…” So, this is some sort of irritation of your bronchial passages often resulting in coughing and maybe phlegm. Your doctor can find which medicine will kick this to the curb. *hack* *cough* #@$%! *hack*

Disorder: ASTHMA 2. Asthma – there are lots of causes of asthma, and some pretty easyto-use treatments. Asthma occurs when your bronchial passages inflame, causing them to shrink up and make breathing difficult.

Disorder: CYSTIC FIBROSIS One condition that genetic researchers are still trying to cure is called: 3. Cystic Fibrosis – This is a build-up of thick mucus in the lungs…this mucus must be loosened and coughed up very often. Cystic Fibrosis is genetic, and appears almost instantly in newborns. The problems this mucus causes the lungs and digestive system usually results in pretty serious health concerns as the people enter their 20 s and 30 s.