Respiratory System

Major function: to supply the body with

oxygen and to dispose of carbon dioxide.

Two zones of respiratory system

▪ Conducting zone
▪ Respiratory zone
Respiratory System
Topics
▪ Functions of the respiratory
passageways
▪ Process of respiration
▪ Pathophysiology of Asthma, COPD,
and Pneumonia
▪ Common drugs
Respiratory System: Two zones
▪ Conducting zone
- most of the respiratory tracts
- conducts gases into and out of the lungs
▪ Respiratory zone
- the respiratory bronchioles, alveolar
ducts and alveoli
- the site of gas exchanges with the blood
Conducting zone

Source: Marieb, 2012

Nose
▪ Provides an airway for respiration
▪ Moisturizes and warms the entering
air:
▪ Filters inspired air and cleans it of
foreign matter
▪ Houses the olfactory receptors
(detection of odorants)
Pharynx
▪ Commonly called throat
▪ Serves as a common passageway for food
and air
▪ Continuous with the nasal cavity
:

▪ With clusters of lymphatic tissues

Larynx (voice box)
▪ Routes air and food into proper channels
▪ Located inferior to the pharynx
▪ Plays a role in speech
▪ Vocal cords - vibrate with expelled air to
:

create sound (speech)

Larynx (voice box)
▪ Formed by eight rigid hyaline cartilages
▪ With spoon-shaped flap of elastic cartilage
(epiglottis)
:
Trachea (windpipe)
▪ Connects larynx to bronchi
▪ Lined with ciliated mucosa
- expel
:
mucus loaded with dust and
other debris away from lungs
Trachea (windpipe)
▪ Provides air flow to and from the lungs
▪ Walls are reinforced with C-shaped
hyaline
:
cartilage - to protect and
maintain the airway open
Main bronchi
▪ Extensions of the windpipe
▪ Right and left bronchi formed by division of
trachea
▪ Right main bronchus wider, shorter, and
:

straighten than the left

- more common site for an inhaled foreign
object to be lodged
▪ Entrance way to
the lungs
Lungs
▪ Occupy the entire thoracic cavity except
the mediastinum
- Apex is near
:
the clavicle
(superior portion)
- Base resting
on diaphragm

Source: Marieb, 2012

Lungs
▪ Each lung divided into lobes by fissures -
- Left lung
o two lobes
:
- Right lung
o three lobes
▪ For gas
exchange
(breathing)
Source: Marieb, 2012
 :

Source: Marieb, 2012

Parietal pleura – the outer membrane which is attached to the inner surface
of the thoracic cavity.
Visceral pleura – visceral serosa covering the surface of each lung.
 :

Source: Marieb, 2012

Pleural cavity
- space between the two pleurae (visceral-parietal) of the lungs
- contains pleural fluid (for lungs to glide easily over thorax wall during
breathing and causes two pleural layers to cling together)
Respiratory zone

Source: https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/365776800967860641/
Respiratory bronchioles

- can be identified by the presence of some alveoli

along their walls
- splits into a number of alveolar ducts, which
terminate in alveolar sacs and individual alveoli
- ensure that incoming air is supplied to each
alveolus
Alveolar ducts

- tiny ducts that connect the respiratory

bronchioles to alveolar sacs
Alveolar sacs

- a collection of alveoli (look like cells in

honeycomb)
Alveoli

- tiny air sacs in the lungs

- look like cells in a honeycomb
- where the exchange of O2 and CO2 takes place
Respiration (four major events)
▪ Pulmonary ventilation - moving air in and
out of the lungs
▪ External respiration - gas exchange between
:
pulmonary blood and alveoli
▪ Respiratory gas transport - transport of gases
via the bloodstream
▪ Internal respiration - gas exchange between
blood and tissue cells in systemic capillaries
Pulmonary ventillation
▪ Breathing
▪ O2 is taken into the body
▪ CO2 is forced out from the body
▪ Two phases
:

- Inspiration – flow of air into lungs

- Expiration – air leaving lungs
Pulmonary ventillation
▪ Major muscles involved in breathing
- Internal intercoastal muscles
- External intercoastal muscles
- Diaphragm
:
Inspiration Expiration
• Inhalation of air into • Forcing of air out
lungs from lungs
• Chest expanding • Chest contracting
:
• Volume of thoracic • Size of thoracic
cavity increases cavity decreases
• Air pressure decreases • Air pressure
increases
Inspiration
• External intercoastal
muscles contract
• Ribs are pulled upward and
outward
: normal position
• Diaphram contracts and
lowers
• Thoracic cavity increases
and lungs expand
• Air pressure inside lungs
decreases
• Air rushes from atmosphere
into lungs through air
passage
Expiration
• Internal intercoastal muscles
contract
• Ribs are pulled back to
• Diaphragm relaxes, to
normal position
• Thoracic cavity decreases and
lungs also decreases
• Air pressure inside lungs
increases
• Air is expelled out from lungs
to atmosphere through
respiratory tract
Inspiration Expiration
External respiration
▪ O2 movement into the
blood
- the alveoli always
has more O2 than
the blood
- O2 moves by diffusion
towards the area of
lower concentration
- pulmonary capillary blood
gains O2
External respiration
▪ CO2 movement out of the
blood
- blood returning from
tissues has higher
concentrations of CO2 than
air in the alveoli
- pulmonary capillary blood
gives up CO2
▪ Blood leaving the lungs is O2-
rich and CO2-poor
Gas transport in the blood
▪ O2 transport in the blood
- attaches to hemoglobin molecules
inside RBC to form oxyhemoglobin
(HbO2)
- a small amount is carried and
dissolved in the plasma
Gas transport in the blood
▪ CO2 transport in the blood
- most is transported in the plasma
as bicarbonate ion (HCO3–)
- a small amount is carried inside
RBCs on hemoglobin, but at
different binding sites than those of
O2 and does not interfere in any
way with O2 transport
Internal respiration
▪ Exchange of gases
between blood and body
cells
▪ An opposite reaction to
what occurs in the lungs
- CO2 diffuses out of tissue
to blood
- O2 diffuses from blood
into tissue
Disorders of the respiratory system
▪ Asthma
▪ COPD
▪ Pneumonia
:
Asthma
▪ A condition in which your airways
narrow and swell and produce extra
mucus
:
▪ Makes breathing difficult
▪ Triggers coughing, wheezing and
shortness of breath
Symptoms of Asthma
▪ Shortness of breath
▪ Chest tightness or pain
▪ Trouble
:
sleeping
▪ Whistling or wheezing sound when
exhaling
▪ Coughing or wheezing
Signs that your asthma is probably
worsening include:
▪ Asthma signs and symptoms that are
more
:
frequent and bothersome
▪ Increasing difficulty breathing
▪ The need to use a quick-relief inhaler
more often
For some people, asthma signs and
symptoms flare up in certain
situations:
▪ Exercise-induced
: asthma
▪ Occupational asthma
▪ Allergy-induced asthma
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD)
▪ A chronic inflammatory lung disease
▪ Causes
:
obstructed airflow from the
lungs
▪ Symptoms include breathing difficulty,
cough, mucus (sputum) production
and wheezing
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD)
▪ Caused by long-term exposure to irritating
gases or particulate matter, most often
from cigarette smoke
▪ People with COPD are at increased risk of
developing heart disease, lung cancer and
a variety of other conditions
Causes of airway obstruction in COPD
▪ Emphysema
- causes destruction of the fragile
walls and elastic fibers of the alveoli
- small airways collapse when you
exhale, impairing airflow out of your
lungs
Causes of airway obstruction in COPD
▪ Chronic bronchitis
- bronchial tubes become inflamed
and narrowed
- lungs produce more mucus
- with chronic cough trying to clear
airways
Risk factors for COPD include:
▪ Exposure to tobacco smoke
▪ People with asthma who smoke
▪ Occupational exposure to dusts and
chemicals.
▪ Exposure to fumes from burning fuel
▪ Age
▪ Genetics
Pneumonia
▪ An infection that inflames the air sacs in
one or both lungs
▪ Air sacs may fill with fluid or pus, causing
cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills,
and difficulty breathing
▪ Caused by a variety of organisms,
including bacteria, viruses and fungi
Pneumonia
▪ Caused by a variety of organisms,
including bacteria, viruses and fungi
▪ Can range in seriousness from mild to life-
threatening
▪ Most serious for infants and young
children, people older than age 65, and
people with health problems
or weakened immune systems
Signs and symptoms of pneumonia
▪ Chest pain when you breathe or cough
▪ Cough, which may produce phlegm
▪ Fatigue
▪ Fever, sweating and shaking chills
▪ Lower than normal body temperature
▪ Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
▪ Shortness of breath
Causes of pneumonia
▪ Community-acquired pneumonia
- most common type
- outside of hospitals or other health care
facilities
▪ Hospital-acquired pneumonia
- can be serious
- bacteria causing it may be more
resistant to antibiotics
- people who get it are already sick
Causes of pneumonia
▪ Health care-acquired pneumonia
- a bacterial infection
- people in long-term care facilities
- people who receive care in outpatient
clinics, including kidney dialysis centers
- caused by bacteria that are more
resistant to antibiotics
Risk factors of pneumonia
▪ Being hospitalized
▪ Chronic disease - asthma, COPD or heart
disease
▪ Smoking
▪ Weakened or suppressed immune system
▪ People who have HIV/AIDS, who've had
an organ transplant, or who receive
chemotherapy or long-term steroids
Complications of pneumonia
▪ Bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia) –
cause organ failure
▪ Difficulty breathing
▪ Fluid accumulation around the lungs
(pleural effusion)
▪ Lung abscess (pus-filled cavity)
To help prevent pneumonia
▪ Get vaccinated
▪ Make sure children get vaccinated
▪ Practice good hygiene
▪ Don't smoke
▪ Keep your immune system strong