Respiration System

What is the respiratory system? We rarely think about breathing even though we do it between And times each day!! When we breathe: Air is warmed, moistened and filtered as it travels through the mouth and nasal passages. It then passes through the trachea and one of the two bronchi into one of the lungs. After passing into the many bronchioles, it finally arrives into some of the millions of tiny sacs called alveoli. This is where gas exchange takes place - oxygen passes out of the air into the blood, and carbon dioxide passes out of the blood into the air in the alveoli.

When you inhale…. the intercostal muscles contract, expanding the ribcage. the diaphragm contracts, pulling downwards to increase the volume of the chest. pressure inside the chest is lowered and air is sucked into the lungs.

When you exhale… the intercostal muscles relax, the ribcage drops inwards and downwards the diaphragm relaxes, moving back upwards, decreasing the volume of the chest. pressure inside the chest increases and air is forced out.

The Heart

How the heart functions The heart is a powerful muscle slightly larger than your clenched fist. It works as a pump to send oxygen-rich blood through all parts of your body. Blood contains oxygen and nutrients that every cell in your body needs to survive. The oxygen-rich blood travels throughout the arteries and vessels, nourishing the body so that it can function properly. Your heart will beat an average of 100,000 times per day. In that time, it pumps more than 4,300 gallons of blood throughout your entire body. The heart is divided into two sides. Each side is divided again into two chambers, the atrium (upper chamber) and ventricle (lower chamber). Blood vessels (veins) carry blood to the heart from the rest of the body. This blood carries carbon dioxide and cellular waste products. The blood goes into the right atrium and then to the right ventricle, where it is then pumped to the lungs to dispose of wastes and receive a fresh oxygen supply. From the lungs, the blood returns to the heart. It returns to the left atrium and then to the left ventricle. The blood is then pumped out of the heart by the left ventricle into the aorta. The left ventricle is the chamber of the heart that is responsible for pumping blood to all parts of the body. The aorta sends this blood to small arteries, which carry the oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

What damages the lungs Smoking – permentely damages the bronchi Pollution Nanotechnology Ecstasy herbal cigarettes chronic bronchitis

How do the lungs function… The Lungs are paired organs in the chest that perform respiration. Each human has two lungs. Each lung is between 10 and 12 inches long. The two lungs are separated by a structure called the mediastinum. The mediastinum contains the heart, trachea, esophagus, and blood vessels. The lungs are covered by a protective membrane called the pulmonary pleura. Lung function normally peaks in the late teens and early twenties. After the early twenties, lung function declines about 1 percent a year over the rest of a person's lifetime. Lung function decreases about 2 percent a year for people who smoke. What do your Lungs do? Your lungs do a vital job. Each day, you take about 23,000 breaths, which bring almost 10,000 quarts of air into your lungs. The air that you breath in contains several gases, including oxygen, that your cells need to function. With each breath, your lungs add fresh oxygen to your blood, which then carries it to your cells. The main function of your lungs is respiration. Steam rooms and your lungs The warm, moist air in a steam room helps clear and sooth your nasal passages, throat, and lungs, making it easier for you to breathe.

What damages the heart All of us lose some blood-pumping ability in our hearts as we age, but heart failure results from the added stress of health conditions that either damage the heart or make it work too hard. All of the lifestyle factors that increase your risk of heart attack and stroke – smoking, being overweight, eating foods high in fat and cholesterol and physical inactivity – can also contribute to heart failure. If you have heart failure, chances are you have (or had) one or more of the conditions listed below. Some of these can be present without you knowing it. Typically these conditions cause the "wear and tear" that leads to heart failure. Having more than one of these factors dramatically increases your risk. Coronary artery disease Past heart attack (myocardial infarction) High blood pressure (hypertension) Abnormal heart valves Heart muscle disease (dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) or inflammation (myocarditis) Heart defects present at birth (congenital heart disease) Severe lung disease Diabetes Other conditions Coronary artery disease When cholesterol and fatty deposits build up in the heart's arteries, less blood can reach the heart muscle. This build-up is known as atherosclerosis. The result may be chest pain (angina) or, if blood flow becomes totally obstructed, a heart attack. Coronary artery disease can also contribute to having high blood pressure which, over time, can also lead to heart failure. Watch an animation of atherosclerosis Watch an animation of coronary artery disease Learn more about coronary artery disease at our Heart Attack Web site Past heart attack (myocardial infarction) A heart attack occurs when an artery that supplies blood to the heart muscle gets blocked. The loss of oxygen and nutrients damages the heart's muscle tissue – part of it essentially "dies." The damaged heart tissue does not contract as well which weakens the heart’s ability to pump blood. Watch an animation of heart attack Learn more at our Heart Attack Web site High blood pressure (hypertension) Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of developing heart failure by two to three times. When pressure in the blood vessels is too high, the heart has to pump harder than normal to keep the blood circulating. This takes a toll on the heart, and over time the chambers get larger and weaker. See an illustration of high blood pressure Assess your risk of developing heart failure from high blood pressure Learn more at our High Blood Pressure Web site Abnormal heart valves Heart valve problems can result from disease, infection (endocarditis) or a defect present at birth. When the valves don't open or close completely during each heartbeat, the heart muscle has to pump harder to keep the blood moving. If the workload becomes too great, heart failure results. Watch an animation of how the valves work Watch an animation of heart valve disease See an illustration of endocarditis Learn more about heart valves Back to list Heart muscle disease (dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) or inflammation (myocarditis) Any damage to the heart muscle — whether because of drug or alcohol use, viral infections or unknown reasons — increases the risk of heart failure. Watch an animation of dilated cardiomyopathy Watch an animation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Learn more about cardiomyopathy Heart defects present at birth (congenital heart disease) If the heart and its chambers don't form correctly, the healthy parts have to work harder to make up for it. Learn more about living with congenital heart disease Severe lung disease When the lungs don't work properly, the heart has to work harder to get available oxygen to the rest of the body. Diabetes Diabetes increases the risk for developing heart failure. People with diabetes tend to develop hypertension and atherosclerosis from elevated lipid levels in the blood — both of which have been linked to heart failure. Learn more about diabetes and heart disease Other conditions Less commonly, an otherwise healthy heart may become temporarily unable to keep up with the body's needs. This can happen in people who have: Low red blood cell count (severe anemia) When there aren't enough red blood cells to carry oxygen, the heart tries to move the small number of cells at a faster heart rate. It can become overtaxed from the effort. An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) This condition causes the body to work at a faster pace, and the heart can be overworked trying to keep up. Abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia or dysrhythmia) When the heart beats too fast, too slow or irregularly, it may not be able to pump enough blood to meet all the body's needs. Learn more at our Arrhythmia Web site In these cases, the person may experience heart failure symptoms until the underlying problem is identified and treated.