Breathing and gas exchange: the basis of life

More recently, the only way to determine whether a person is alive was the ability to detect or not detect signs of breathing. To the mouth they brought a mirror and watched it become turbid. In our time, other signs are also used, but the absence of breath always indicates a rapid extinction or the cessation of life that has already occurred. The organs of respiration and gas exchange are still being studied by scientists in order to fully understand the work of the respiratory system as a whole. It is very reliable, but sometimes it becomes extremely vulnerable.

This system includes the respiratory tract, the structure of the respiratory system of this region is similar. This includes the nasal cavity, larynx, trachea and bronchi. All these organs have a cartilaginous base, so they retain their shape, and from the inside they are lined with an epithelium of a ciliary type. He is able to expel small foreign bodies from the respiratory tract with subtle cuts.

However, the main respiratory organs, lungs, play a more complex role. It is here that there is an exchange between blood and air and vice versa. Respiratory organs and gas exchange, their main function, are closely related. The lungs are adapted to perform this task structurally.

Many of us in the childhood were forced to breathe only a nose. Why is it so important? On the way through the nasal cavity the air becomes more moist, or else the dry air could injure the lungs (remember your feelings after too much running of average length of time when you have to breathe with your mouth). In addition, dust is trapped in the nasal cavity, or else, even in young people, the lungs become like a dust collector. Therefore, those who breathe through the mouth constantly, get sick more often and cough even against the background of health.

The nasal cavity is divided by a septum into two parts, behind it it is informed by special apertures with a nasopharynx. The nose contains olfactory organs, as well as organs that perceive pheromones - substances that make us attractive to the opposite sex. So the respiratory organs and gas exchange provide, and contain the components of other systems.

From the nasopharynx through the mouth, air enters the larynx, for which he needs to pass through the pharynx. In the throat - a kind of intersection of the respiratory and digestive systems. There is a sure guard - epiglottis, which prevents food and fluids from getting into the respiratory tract. Slightly below are the vocal cords - special elastic fibers that produce a sound on the same principle as the violin.

The larynx reaches the bottom of the neck, where the next stage begins on the path of air - the trachea. Interestingly, before 16 years the trachea consists of cartilage, but later - ossifies. Although this organ is very flexible, in the process of breathing its length and diameter change. At the end of the trachea splits into two bronchi. They branch and enter the lungs, and the places of these occurrences are not visible from the outside.

The lungs are not completely there, where we are used to suspect their presence - in the chest, they also protrude a few centimeters above the clavicles. Their shell is divided into two parts, between which there is a lubricant, so the lungs can very strongly and without friction (in the norm) change its shape.

The bronchi branch to the bronchioles, and then pass into small vesicles - the alveoli.

With a quiet breath, only 70 percent of the air reaches the lungs. Owing to the difference in pressure, oxygen passes into the blood of the capillaries, which penetrate the alveoli, and carbon dioxide, on the contrary, emerges from the capillaries into the alveoli and is discharged outward.

It is extremely important that you have a healthy respiratory system. And gas exchange then will be excellent. This will give a high performance and a good mood. Protect your lungs from childhood. After all, they perform hard work for us every day and enable the cells of the whole organism to get the oxygen necessary for life.