Anatomy and Physiology

The respiratory system is made up of

lungs, trachea (windpipe), bronchi
(airways) bronchioles, alveoli and
capillaries which are also known as
the tiny blood vessels within the
lungs. In a normal healthy lung, air
travels through the trachea into the
lungs. For this air to get inside, the
trachea divides into branches which
are split into the left and right
bronchus. Divided further there are
small passages called the bronchioles
at the end of these bronchioles there
are small air sacs which are called
alveoli. Attached to the alveoli are
the tiny blood vessels called the
capillaries. The oxygen in which we
breathe in is passed through the
trachea down into the bronchus and
bronchioles until it passes through
the wall of the alveoli to reach the
capillaries in order for gas exchange to happen. This process of gas exchange and
breathing as a whole in a normal healthy lung is a lot simpler and smoother in comparison
to an individual suffering with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In COPD lung, over a period of time inflammation to the lungs can cause permanent
damage to not only the airways but to the air sacs. There is constriction in both the bronchi
and the bronchioles in the lungs which contribute to them becoming inflamed and
excessive mucous production clogging up the airways. The excess mucous production is
used to trap and prevent any irritants from entering the lungs. Due to this excess mucous
production the cilia have to work extra harder in order to move the mucous and over a
long period of time the cilia become damaged and therefore unable to discard any mucous.
The air sacs, alveoli, become damaged and begin to lose their elasticity which is
commonly due to the irritation caused in the lungs and airways . The combination of both
the excess mucous production and smaller spaces and air entry makes the exchange of both
gases CO2 and Oxygen a lot harder for someone with this condition. Overtime the spaces
between get larger casing trapped air and fewer air sacs to supply oxygen to the blood
which also has an impact on the circulatory system. Poor gas exchange overtime can
contribute to the damaging of pulmonary arteries in the lungs. This contributes to the
damaging of the right ventricle in the heart. This is also known as pulmonary
hypertension. In pulmonary hypertension the right side of your heart has to work a lot
harder in order to push blood into and through the lungs. Due to COPD and the obstruction
in the pulmonary arteries overtime the heart becomes weaker and unable to pump
effectively.