(6)	Respiratory+system++Efficiency+&+cleaning

Respiratory System - Efficiency and Cleaning **An Introductory video (before you go on to this long and detailed page)**

media type="youtube" key="HiT621PrrO0" height="315" width="420" align="center" ** What is the respiratory system? ** The system of organs in the body that is responsible for the intake of oxygen and the expiration of carbon dioxide. In mammals, this system consists of the lungs, bronchi, trachea, and alveolus.


 * Features Making the Respiratory System Efficient: **


 * Lungs **

A respiratory organ that is situated inside the rib cage and helps with the transfer of oxygen into the blood and remove carbon dioxide from the blood.

**Trachea**



A tube in air-breathing invertebrate animals through which air is drawn into the body by the pumping action of the abdominal muscles.

**Bronchus** A tube leading from the windpipe to a lung which provides for the passage of air.

**Alveolus** A tiny thin-walled air sac that can be found in large number inside each lung; oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves the blood. The alveoli are grouped together instead of existing as separate individual sacs. Oxygen from the air that has been inhaled diffuses through the walls of the alveoli and the capillaries then into the red blood cells. Oxygen is then carried by the blood to the body tissues. Alveoli has a structure that is specialized for the efficiency of gasses exchange.

Respiratory system diseases primarily occur in the bronchioles and the alveoli.
 * Respiratory System Diseases: **

**Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)** A progressive disease generally caused by long term irritation to the lungs making it hard to breathe. The disease includes two main conditions: emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis. Emphysema is an unusual permanent enlargement of the alveoli, along with the destruction of their wall. In some cases, emphysema destroys the walls of the alveoli, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of multiple small ones. Chronic obstructive bronchitis is the irritation of the mucus membrane lining on the airways which leads to alveoli. This causes the lining to thicken, generating many thick mucus, filling the airways, clogging them, and making it hard to breathe.

**Asthma**

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A chronic lung disease which causes difficulty in breathing, caused by the constriction and tightening of muscles surrounding the airways. Patients with asthma has a different and more difficult breathing because the airways are very sensitive. It can react to different triggers like: pollens, smoke, and infections. This will lead to the constriction of the airways, obstructing the airflow, making it harder to breath than a patient without asthma.

**Bronchitis**

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There are two types of bronchitis, both has the same symptoms: chronic and non-chronic bronchitis. The differences between these two types of disease is the amount of time it lasts and how it was caused. Chronic bronchitis can last up to three months or even longer while non-chronic bronchitis is short term which only last up to six weeks. Bronchitis is the viral or bacterial infection of the immune system. It can be treated with pathogen destroyers, blood support formulas, immune system enhancers, and proteolysis enzymes.

**Flu** A highly contagious viral infection that is similar to a common cold with more severe symptoms which can even cause death. Flus can be cured with vaccines but they are only marginally effective. From an initial flu virus, another highly contagious viral infection, called pneumonia, can be caused. It is the infection of the air sacs of the lung which causes the sacs to be clogged. It can lead to respiratory and heart failure and can also cause many deaths.


 * What are they and how do we use them? **

**Goblet Cell** - A column-shaped cell found in the respiratory and intestinal tracts, which secretes the main component of mucus.

**Cilia** - A short, microscopic, hairlike vibrating structure. Cilia occur in large numbers on the surface of certain cells.

**Mucus** - A slimy substance, that can be in the throat, on frogs and in plants. Also known as slim.


 * How does air travel inside your respiratory system? **

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It all starts with the inhale of air through the nose. The air passes through the nasal passages where the air is filtered, heated, moistened, and enters the back of the throat. Esophagus is the food-pipe which is located at the back of the throat and the windpipe (for air) is located at the front. When food is travelling down the esophagus, the epiglottis covers the windpipe so that food doesn't go down the wrong pipe. From there, the air flows down the windpipe, passing the voice box and vocal chords to where the lowermost ribs meet the center of the human chest. There, the windpipe is divided into two tubes, which lead to the two lungs. Inside each of the lung is a tube, called bronchi which branches into smaller tubes. At the end of these tubes are tiny bubbles of sacs, called alveoli. The air sacs then bring these oxygen molecules into the bloodstream, exchanging them for waste products, like carbon dioxide.

Every minute, humans breathe in 13 pints of air - approximately 20 times per minute. The lungs contain almost 1,500 miles and airways and over 300 million alveoli.
 * Facts: **