The Importance Of Respiratory Reflection

Every living human needs proper oxygenation. We all breathe, most of the time unconsciously. The normal respiratory rate of a healthy adult is anywhere from 12-20 breaths per minute. Many people think of air as oxygen, but in reality the air we all inhale is approximately 79 percent nitrogen gas (N2) and 21 percent oxygen gas (O2) with trace amounts of negligible gases. When we exhale we return the same 79 percent N2 to our surroundings with 16 percent O2, and about 5 percent carbon dioxide (CO2), so there 's a clear exchange between O2 and CO2 as we breathe in and out. The dynamics of how this occurs is indeed a fascinating scientific mechanism.

One of the fundamental questions, aside from the obvious, should be in regards to oxygen 's role

To generalize this concepts just know that gases will diffuse to areas of lower pressure. In the lungs, the partial pressure of O2 is said to be around 110 mm Hg while CO2 is approximately 40 mm Hg; in tissue where cellular respiration is actively happening the partial pressure of CO2, a waste product of cellular respiration, is higher than that of blood while the oxygen partial pressure is lower than that found in the lungs because it is use in cellular respiration, and thus the gases can diffuse to the areas where the pressure is lower. Remember that small molecules like oxygen and carbon dioxide can easily diffuse through the membrane of

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer in America. Cigarette smoke releases nicotine, carbon monoxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the lung tissue; these toxic fumes can lead to emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among other conditions. It also damages the vocal cords, which causes voice hoarseness also known as "raspy" voice. But the effects of smoking are not just limited to the lungs, in the arteries of the heart and brain smoke causes endothelial dysfunction which can lead to heart attacks and strokes, another noted effect of the heart is that smoke leads to irregularly irregular cardiac rhythms like atrial flutters and fibrillations. These irregular heart rhythms can cause blood pooling in the atria or ventricles, which has the potential to form clots that could lead to obstructions known as embolisms. So this is the one important recommendation: if you smoke, **STOP** you will be glad you did in the future. Also, you can always measure you lung capacity with a spirometer just ask your primary care doctor next time you 're at doctor 's office.

We have reached the end of this blog post; I hope you found this information as enjoyable as I did. As always leave you kudos and remember you can always email me your thoughts by pressing the "say hello" button at the bottom of this page. I apologize for not been able to write much lately due to the rigors of MCAT studying, hopefully