ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY ( explanation )

Respiratory System

The respiratory system is the network of organs and tissues that help a person breathe. It includes the
airways, lungs and blood vessels. The muscles that power the lungs are also part of the respiratory
system. These parts work together to move oxygen throughout the body and clean out waste gases like
carbon dioxide.

The respiratory system has many functions. Besides helping a person inhale (breathe in) and exhale
(breathe out), it:

 Allows to talk and to smell.

 Warms air to match the body temperature and moisturizes it to the humidity level that the body
needs. Purify, humidify, and warm incoming air.
 Delivers oxygen to the cells in the body. The job of the respiratory system is to keep the body
constantly supplied with oxygen.
 Removes waste gases, including carbon dioxide, from the body when exhale. Elimination of
carbon dioxide. The respiratory system organs oversee the gas exchanges that occur between
the blood and the external environment.
 Protects the airways from harmful substances and irritants.

The respiratory system has many different parts that work together to help a person breathe. Each
group of parts has many separate components.

The organs of the respiratory system include the mouth, nose, sinuses, pharynx, trachea, bronchi, and
their smaller branches, and the lungs, which contain the alveoli.

The airways deliver air to the lungs. The airways are a complicated system that includes:

 Mouth and nose: Openings that pull air from outside the body into the respiratory system. The
nose is the only externally visible part of the respiratory system.
 Sinuses: Hollow areas between the bones in the head that help regulate the temperature and
humidity of the air that a person inhale.
 Pharynx (throat): Tube that delivers air from the mouth and nose to the trachea (windpipe).
Commonly called the throat, the pharynx serves as a common passageway for food and air.
  Trachea: Passage connecting the throat and lungs. The trachea is fairly rigid because its walls
are reinforced with C-shaped rings of hyaline cartilage; the open parts of the rings abut the
esophagus and allow it to expand anteriorly when we swallow a large piece of food, while the
solid portions support the trachea walls and keep it patent, or open, in spite of the pressure
changes that occur during breathing.
 Bronchial tubes: Tubes at the bottom of the windpipe or trachea that connect into each lung.
The right and left main (primary) bronchi are formed by the division of the trachea.
 Lungs: Two organs that remove oxygen from the air and pass it into the blood. The lungs occupy
the entire thoracic cavity except for the most central area, the mediastinum, which houses the
heart, the great blood vessels, bronchi, esophagus, and other organs.

From the lungs, the bloodstream delivers oxygen to all the organs and other tissues.

Muscles and bones help move the air that a person inhale into and out of the lungs. Some of the bones
and muscles in the respiratory system include:

 Diaphragm: Muscle that helps the lungs pull in air and push it out.
 Ribs: Bones that surround and protect the lungs and heart.

When a person breathe out, the blood carries carbon dioxide and other waste out of the body. Other
components that work with the lungs and blood vessels include:

 Alveoli: Tiny air sacs in the lungs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place.
 Bronchioles: Small branches of the bronchial tubes that lead to the alveoli.
 Capillaries: Blood vessels in the alveoli walls that move oxygen and carbon dioxide.
 Lung lobes: Sections of the lungs — three lobes in the right lung and two in the left lung.
 Pleura: Thin sacs that surround each lung lobe and separate your lungs from the chest wall. The
surface of each lung is covered with a visceral serosa called the pulmonary, or visceral pleura,
and the walls of the thoracic cavity are lined by the parietal pleura.

Some of the other components of the respiratory system include:

 Cilia: Tiny hairs that move in a wave-like motion to filter dust and other irritants out of the
airways. The trachea is lined with ciliated mucosa that beat continuously and in a direction
 opposite to that of the incoming air as they propel mucus, loaded with dust particles and
other debris away from the lungs to the throat, where it can be swallowed or spat out.

 Epiglottis: Tissue flap at the entrance to the trachea that closes when a person swallow to keep
food and liquids out of the airway.
 Larynx (voice box): Hollow organ that allows a person to talk and make sounds when air moves
in and out. The larynx or voice box routes air and food into the proper channels and plays a
role in speech

The major function of the respiratory system is to supply the body with oxygen and to dispose of
carbon dioxide. To do this, at least four distinct events, collectively called respiration, must occur.

Reference:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21205-respiratory-system

https://nurseslabs.com/respiratory-system/