The simple act of breathing is often taken for granted. As an automated function sustaining life, most of us do not have to think about the act of breathing. However, for many others, respiratory diseases make this simple act thought consuming. Emphysema is one such disease taking away the ease, but instead inflicting labored breathing and a hope for a cure.
Healthy lung tissue is predominately soft, elastic connective tissue, designed to slide easily over the thorax with each breath. The lungs are covered with visceral pleura which glide fluidly over the parietal pleura of the thoracic cavity thanks to the serous secretion of pleural fluid (Marieb, 2006, p. 430). During inhalation, the lungs expand with air, similar to filling a balloon. The pliable latex of the balloon allows it to expand, just as the pliability of lungs and their components allows for expansion. During exhalation, the volume of air decrease causing a deflation, similar to letting air out of the balloon. However, unlike a balloon, the paired lungs are not filled with empty spaces; the bronchi enter the lungs and subdivide progressively smaller into bronchioles, a network of conducting passageways leading to the alveoli (Marieb, 2006, p. 433). Alveoli are small air sacs in the respiratory zone. The respiratory zone also consists of bronchioles and alveolar ducts, and is responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (Marieb, 2006, p. 433).
Emphysema’s target is the lungs. The inflammation caused by emphysema damages the alveoli, or air sacs. Over time, the air sacs lose their elasticity, no longer able to expand and detract like your favorite Thanksgiving elastic waist band pants. After so many Thanksgiving dinners, the elastic fibers break, and fai...
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...lifestyle keeps the lungs healthy and elastic, and after that, I do believe it is just up to luck. Thankfully, after 54-years of smoking, my mom stopped. Now, 14-years later, the doctors say her respiratory system is relatively healthy. This leads me to believe emphysema is not in our genetics. Additionally, no other smokers in the family have developed the disease. Mom attributes her health to always eating breakfast before smoking. There may be something to that, as she does not have smokers cough; alas, her heart was another issue.
Works Cited
Emphysema. (2009, April 29). Retrieved April 20, 2011, from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/emphysema/DS00296
Marieb, E. N., (2006). Essentials of human anatomy and physiology. San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.
Additionally, some of the general diagnostic and pulmonary function tests are distinct in emphysema in comparison to chronic bronchitis. In the case of R.S. the arterial blood gas (ABG) values are the following: pH=7.32, PaCO2= 60mm Hg, PaO2= 50 mm Hg, HCO3- = 80mEq/L. R.S.’s laboratory findings are indicative of chronic bronchitis, where the pH and PaO2 are decreased, whereas PaCO2 and HCO3- are increased, when compare to normal indices. Based on the arterial blood gas evaluation, the physician can deduce that the increased carbon dioxide is due to the airway obstruction displayed by the hypoventilation. Furthermore the excessive mucus production in chronic bronchitis hinders proper oxygenation leading to the hypoxia. On the other hand, in emphysema the arterial blood gas values would include a low to normal PaCO2 and only a slight decrease in PaO2 which tend to occur in the later disease stages.
When you breathe in, air containing carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) it moves down your trachea; a tunnel containing cartilage and smooth tissue. Air then travels through two hollow tubes called bronchi; narrow branches lined with smooth muscle, mucosal and ringed cartilage to support the structure. The bronchi divide out into smaller tunnels called bronchioles; are small branches 0.5-1mm, lined with muscular walls to help dilate and constrict the airway. At the end of the bronchioles are little air sacs called alveoli; which assist in gas exchange of O2 and CO2. (Eldridge, 2016) Towards the end of alveoli are small blood vessel capillaries. O2 is moved through the blood stream through theses small blood vessels (capillaries) at the end of the alveoli and the CO2 is then exhaled. (RolandMedically,
In the lungs gas exchange occurs to re-oxidize the blood. Air travels through the respiratory tract to reach the lungs and back up to be exhaled into the environment. At the termination point of the respiratory tract lays the alveoli. The alveoli have a sac-like structure. In biological systems, the structure and functions of components are related. The alveoli have a structure specialized for efficient gaseous exchange. In the structure of the alveoli (alveolus), it looks as if it has the form of a hollow cavity that is paired with elastic fibers...
To better understand how COPD affects an individual you should first know how the lungs function. When you breathe in air it first goes through your trachea then into your bronchioles. Once in the bronchioles the air goes to the air sacs called alveoli. In the alveoli, the gas exchange occurs with the capillaries. Gas exchange is when the oxygen enters the bloodstream and carbon dioxide enters the alveoli. During the breathing process, alveoli will inflate when inhaling and deflate while exhaling.
Person, A. & Mintz, M., (2006), Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory Tract, Disorders of the Respiratory Tract, pp. 11-17, New Jersey: Human Press Inc.
A person can try to hold his breath for a while, but soon reaches a point when they can no longer do so. In human beings and animals, breathing continues constantly without conscious effort.
Pneumonia is an inflammatory response that results in an excess amount of fluid in the interstitial spaces, the alveoli, and the bronchioles. It is caused by the inhalation of organisms or irritants that move into the alveoli when the immune system is not strong enough to combat it. Once these organisms or irritants enter the lungs, they reach the alveoli where they begin to multiply. This multiplication of these organisms results in white blood cells traveling into the area subsequently causing local capillaries to become edematous, leaky, and to create exudate. The combination of this results in thickening of the alveolar wall due to fluid collection within and around the alveoli. Impaired gas exchange, which is the ...
COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and is a major cause of disability. Millions of middle aged-adult and older adults are diagnosed with COPD. “Over the past decades chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become widespread and is now the fourth leading cause of morbidity and mortality on a worldwide basis” (Hellem, Bruugsgaard, & Bergland, 2012, p. 206). This disease is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. As time goes on the symptoms will get worse. Most people with COPD have both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. With emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs are damaged which reduces the amount of gas exchange in the lungs. With chronic bronchitis, the lining of the airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to thicken and thick mucus forms in the airways, which makes it hard to breathe.
...er with adjacent cells to form a large, multinucleated cell creating large masses of cells” (Cooper, Banasiak, & Allen, 2003). In other words, the virus spreads along the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract through cell-to-cell transfer. The “bronchiole mucosa ultimately begins to swell, and the lumina fill with mucus and exudate. Inflammatory cells infiltrate the area resulting in the shedding of dead epithelial cells” (Cooper, Banasiak, & Allen, 2003). The dead epithelial cells then obstruct the small airway passages. The bronchiole cells normally dilate during inhalation and narrow on exhalation, however since the mucosa is inflamed the there is not good movement of air. With the obstruction of the bronchioles “air trapping, poor exchange of gases, increased work of breathing, and a characteristic expiratory wheeze” occur (Cooper, Banasiak, & Allen, 2003).
One of the common diseases in the respiratory system that many people around the world face is emphysema or also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is a chronic lung condition where the alveoli or air sacs may be damaged or enlarged resulting in short of breath (Mayo Clinic, 2011). If emphysema is left untreated, it will worsen causing the sphere shaped air sacs to come together making holes and reduce the surface area of the lungs and the amount of oxygen that travels through the bloodstream, blocking the airways of the lungs (Karriem- Norwood, 2012). The most common ways a patient can get emphysema are by cigarette smoking or being exposed to chemicals, dust or air pollutants for a long period of time. Common physical exams reveal a temperature of 100.8 Fahrenheit, 104 beats per minute, a blood pressure of 146/92, and a respiratory rate of 36 breaths per min (Karriem- Norwood, 2012). (see appendix A.1,A.2, A.3, A.4 for complete proof.)
Parker, Steve. "Chronic Pulmonary Diseases." The Human Body Book. New ed. New York: DK Pub., 2007.
Many people try to quit smoking but it still is very possible to develop lung cancer years after you quit. The risk of second hand smoke is real and women are at a higher risk to develop cancer this way. In addition, there is evidence that lung cancer in people who never smoke have a better prognosis than in those who do smoke, and that patients ...
He explained to me that my emphysema was a direct cause of my prolonged smoking. Although, it can be caused by the lack of an inherited protein, alpha-1-antitrypsin, which protects the elastic structures (alveoli) in the lungs. He also said that air pollution, manufacturing fumes, and second hand smoke could have an impact but my history of smoking was most likely to blame. In order to have full comprehension of my disease, I asked my doctor to elaborate on the anatomy of the lung
Minai, Omar A., Joshua Benditt and Fernando J. Martinez. (2008, Februrary 18). Natural History Of Emphysema. doi:10.1513/pats.200802-018ET
of the air spaces and drops the air pressure in the lungs so that air