The Respiratory System

Aside from the cardiovascular system that takes in oxygen and trashes out carbon dioxide throughout the body, the respiratory system is also responsible for that same task. The respiratory system is often known for breathing (inhaling and exhaling oxygen). It is divided into two tracts : upper and lower. This week, we have tackled the upper tract of the respiratory system.

In the upper tract of the respiratory system, its primary role is to breathe in oxygen from outside to eliminate carbon dioxide and this repeats infinitely. The major components are the lungs, upper and lower airways, alveoli, thoracic cage, and muscles such as the diaphragm. It has two processes of which it takes in oxygen and carbon dioxide out : ventilation for bulk movement of the air down to to the terminal end of the lungs and respiration for the process gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. There are two kinds of respiration which are the external and the internal. External has something to do with gas exchange between the blood and the outside environment while the internal is the exchange of oxygenated blood to the cells and tissues of the body. Note that a person can normally hold their breath around 4-6 minutes otherwise they would die of oxygen depletion exceeding that time.

The function of the upper airway tract of the respiratory system is to regulate body temperature, filtering particles, humidifying gases, provides sense of smell, produces sounds, and ventilates gases down to the airways. It is made up of the nose, sinuses, and the pharynx. In the nasal cavity, there are three regions overall. These are the vestibular, oflactory, and the respiratory region. Finally, in the tracheobronchial tree, it is divided into several parts and branches on each side of the lungs. Normally, it has 19 branches with the diameter of 1.6mm (branches 4-9), 1mm (branches 10-15 and 19), and 0.5mm (branch 16).