The Human

Respiratory System

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What is the Respiratory System?

is the network of organs and tissues that help you breathe. This system helps your body absorb oxygen from the air so your organs can work. It also cleans waste gases, such as carbon dioxide, from your blood. Common problems include allergies, diseases or infections.

What does the Respiratory System do?

The respiratory system has many functions. Besides helping you inhale (breathe in) and exhale (breathe out), it also serve as:

Allows you to talk and to smell.

Inhalation and exhalation are how your body brings in oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide. The process gets help from a large dome-shaped muscle under your lungs called the diaphragm.

When you breathe in, your diaphragm pulls downward, creating a vacuum that causes a rush of air into your lungs.

The opposite happens with exhalation: Your diaphragm relaxes upward, pushing on your lungs, allowing them to deflate.

Two men talking

Warms air to match your body temperature

Warms air to match your body temperature and moisturizes it to the humidity level your body needs.

The body keeps the lungs moist, and as drier air enters the lungs, they naturally draw moisture out.

As a result, the humidification that your lungs and respiratory passages perform makes the air breathable and contributes to the slow but steady loss of moisture from the body.

Warm body temparature

Removes waste gases.

Removes waste gases, including carbon dioxide, from the body when you exhale.

Every cell in your body needs oxygen to live. The air we breathe contains oxygen and other gases. The respiratory system's main job is to move fresh air into your body while removing waste gases.

Your lungs and respiratory system automatically perform this vital process, called gas exchange.

Woman Breathing

"You lose a lot of water just by breathing"

Breathing allows you to take in the oxygen your cells need and expel carbon-dioxide waste. But when you exhale, you also breathe out a lot of water.

When at rest, humans exhale up to 17.5 milliliters (0.59 fluid ounces) of water per hour, according to a 2012 article in the journal Polish Pneumonology and Allergology. But you lose about four times that amount when you exercise, the study said.

One of the major disease involving the
Respiratory System is:

Bronchitis

bron·​chi·​tis | brän-ˈkī-təs

Bronchitis arises whenever the bronchial tubes that supply air to the human lungs get inflamed and enlarged; it is merely a swelling in the airways of a human (bronchi). The Bronchi link the trachea (windpipe) to the human lungs' small air sacs (alveoli) and the body absorbs oxygen through the alveolar walls. Consequently, Bronchitis causes the bronchi to expand and be filled with sticky mucus; this makes breathing difficult and prompts a person to cough. Bronchitis may be either acute or chronic.

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What are the parts of the Respiratory System?

The respiratory system has many different parts that work together to help you breathe. Each group of parts has many separate components.

Parts of the Respiratory System

12 Main parts of the Respiratory System

Nostrils

The first part of the respiratory system are the nostrils. These are two chambers that may be found in the nose, and they are divided from one another by a structure that is referred to as the sagittal septum. In addition to containing the neurons that are responsible for the sense of smell, they also serve as the primary pathways via which air may enter and leave the body.

Nostrils

Mouth

Although the mouth is a component of the respiratory system, it should not be used for breathing in air. Because it does not have a mucous membrane or villi, it does not effectively trap potentially harmful particles or warm the air. This is despite the fact that it does enable air to pass through it.

Mouth

Pharynx

The pharynx is the second significant structure of the respiratory system, despite the fact that it is also a component of the digestive system. It is a tube that is situated in the neck and links the nostrils with the larynx, which is the next respiratory structure after the pharynx. The mouth is connected to the esophagus through this tube.

Pharynx

Larynx

Another tubular component of the respiratory system, the larynx, it is responsible for transporting air from the pharynx to the trachea after receiving it from the pharynx. Its length is just 44 millimeters, which is much less than the pharynx's length, but its width is the same as the pharynx's at 4 cm.

Larynx

Trachea

The trachea is a tube that originates in the larynx and is still cartilaginous in nature, as opposed to being made of muscle. The trachea extends downward from this larynx all the way to the fourth vertebra in the thoracic spine, which is more or less at the same level as the heart. Because of this, its length is anywhere from 10 to 15 centimeters, and its width is exactly 2.5 cm.

Nostrils

Lungs

The lungs are the primary organs in charge of respiration in the body. The functioning of all the other structures that we have seen and will see in the future is necessary for the efficient operation of these. They are made up of two pink sacs that take up a significant portion of the thoracic cavity and serve as the site of gas exchange inside their interiors.

Nostrils

Lobes

Each one of the lungs is split into portions called lobes, and these lobes are the fundamental units that make up those sections. The right side may be broken down into three sections: the upper, the middle, and the lower. As well as the left one, which is the smaller of the two, may be divided into two sections: the lower and the upper.

Nostrils

Bronchi

After entering the lungs, the two extensions of the trachea are referred to as the bronchi. Bronchi are the names that are given to each of the bronchi. Therefore, the intrapulmonary section of the trachea is what we are talking about here. In addition to serving as the primary highway for the entry of air, one of the most significant aspects of these airways is the fact that they divide into bronchioles.

Nostrils

Bronchioles

The two bronchi give birth to a number of branches, which are known collectively as the bronchioles. The bronchi grow into ever-smaller bronchioles, as though branching off of a tree, until they encompass the whole internal capacity of the lungs. There are around 300,000 bronchioles in each lung, and they serve the critical job of continuing to convey air, in this instance to the alveoli. Bronchioles are located throughout the lungs.

Bronchioles

Pulmonari Alveoli

If we consider the lungs to be the core of the respiratory system, then the alveoli inside each of these lungs serve as the organ's nerve center. They are the locations where the actual process of gas exchange takes place. These are tiny sacs with a diameter of between 0.1 and 0.2 millimeters that may be discovered near the end of the bronchioles that are the narrowest.

Pulmonari Alveoli

Pleura

The pleura is a membrane made of connective tissue that borders each lung and only permits two openings: those of the two bronchi. In this context, the pleura functions as the lung covering; in addition, it is covered by a mucosa that maintains the lubrication of the lungs and helps keep the lungs moist.

Pleura

Diaphragm

We are now going to move on from the lung and examine another structure that is an important component of the respiratory system despite the fact that it is not directly engaged in the passage of air. We are speaking about the diaphragm, which is a muscle that has the form of a dome and is placed underneath the lungs. It tightens up in order to assist the lungs operate properly during inspiration, and then it relaxes during exhalation.

Diaphragm