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The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary ...
Their function in the respiratory system is to extract oxygen from the atmosphere and transfer it into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere, in a process of gas exchange. Respiration is driven by different muscular systems in different species.
The upper respiratory tract can refer to the parts of the respiratory system lying above the vocal folds, or above the cricoid cartilage. [4] [5] The larynx is sometimes included in both the upper and lower airways. [6] The larynx is also called the voice box and has the associated cartilage that produces sound.
The breathing of all vertebrates with lungs consists of repetitive cycles of inhalation and exhalation through a highly branched system of tubes or airways which lead from the nose to the alveoli. [4] The number of respiratory cycles per minute is the breathing or respiratory rate, and is one of the four primary vital signs of life. [5]
The most important function of breathing is the supplying of oxygen to the body and balancing of the carbon dioxide levels. Under most conditions, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO 2 ), or concentration of carbon dioxide, controls the respiratory rate .
The cells in the respiratory epithelium are of five main types: a) ciliated cells, b) goblet cells, c) brush cells, d) airway basal cells, and e) small granule cells (NDES) [6] Goblet cells become increasingly fewer further down the respiratory tree until they are absent in the terminal bronchioles; club cells take over their role to some extent here. [7]
The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...
Pulmonology (/ ˌ p ʌ l m ə ˈ n ɒ l ə dʒ i /, / ˌ p ʊ l m ə ˈ n ɒ l ə dʒ i /, from Latin pulmō, -ōnis "lung" and the Greek suffix -λογία-logía "study of"), pneumology (/ n ʊ ˈ m ɒ l ə dʒ i, n j ʊ-/, built on Greek πνεύμων pneúmōn "lung") or pneumonology [1] (/ n ʊ m ə n ˈ ɒ l ə dʒ i, n j ʊ-/) is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving ...