The Respiratory System

Journey through the Respiratory System

There are about five parts of our respiratory system that helps us breath; the nose, windpipe, air tube, lungs, and last but not least, the air sacs. These five parts help us breathe every day, which is why they’re very important and we have to keep them healthy at all times.

Our nose inhales or inspires air rich in oxygen from the air around us, while its ‘hair’ collects and removes particles dust that is contained within the air we inhale. When the air we breathe is on its way to the lungs, they travel past through the windpipe. The windpipe does not only lead to our nose, but to our mouth as well. That is why we can breathe from our mouth when we part and inhale through it. The air soon reaches to two big air tubes which branches into tinier tubes in our lungs, and at the end of every tiny tube, there are clusters of bubble-shaped-like air sacs.

The air sacs are very important, because they help store oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. How?

As the air rich in oxygen we inhale fills in the air sacs, the carbon dioxide that is carried by blood rushes in, replacing the oxygen’s place and at the same time, the oxygen replaces the carbon dioxide’s place. And when we exhale, the carbon dioxide is pushed and forced out of the air sacs and journey through the windpipe, ending up blowing out of our body.

Illnesses and Diseases

Like every other body systems, our respiratory system has its illnesses and diseases. There are about three of them that you should mainly know; Asthma, Emphysema, and Lung cancer.

ASTHMA

Asthma is mainly caused by allergies, or a specific infectious and dangerous substance. Symptoms of Asthma are wheezing, shortness of breath, or even coughing. If you or one of your friends or family has those symptoms, immediately give them medicines and therapies under doctor’s orders and visualization.

People suffering from Asthma can cure well when they are given regular therapies, a few medicines, and most importantly, they have to stay away from the things that give them allergies.

EMPHYSEMA

Emphysema is the enlargement of air sacs. As they larges, they would burst, leaving a hole at the end of the air tubes. When this happens, the air that we breathe would directly fill the next cluster of air sacs. The cycle goes on and on, until most parts of our lungs are damaged.

Symptoms of Emphysema are mainly wheezing or shortness of breathes. Emphysema occurs usually when you inhale smoke from smokers, or you actually do smoke. Therapies and medicines won’t take effect unless you stop smoking at once.

LUNG CANCER

Lung cancer is a formation of tumor in your lungs. It is generally caused by smoking, inhaling deadly gases or pollution, or you may have a family history of lung cancer. When tumor slowly forms from time to time, several parts of your lungs would be severely damaged. Photos of people suffering from lung cancer are usually placed on the back of cigarette boxes, but somehow, the smokers didn’t really pay attention or probably, they just wanted to kill themselves for fun.

Wheezing, shortness of breathes are two of the symptoms of lung cancer. As soon as those symptoms appear, immediately stop smoking or therapies won’t take effect – such as most respiratory system illnesses.

Keeping Our Body Healthy

The main solution to not suffer those deadly diseases is to keep our body healthy by;

·       Eating good and healthy food, along with a proper diet

·       Have regular exercises

·       Get some good rest

·       And keep your hygiene

If you work in dirty or polluted places, be sure to wear a mask at all times to prevent the deadly air from being inhaled. But, most importantly, stop smoking or not smoke at all!

Other Respiratory Systems

Animals also have their own ways to breathe. Mammals, such as squirrels, breathe with their lungs and through their nostrils, as well as birds. Insects, such as butterflies and grasshoppers, breathe through openings in their body that leads to air tubes into their internal organs.

Whales and dolphins breathe with their lungs, but instead of nostrils, they breathe through the blowholes just on the top of their heads. Fish breathe through their gills, the ones that we find when we buy fish in the market. Some animals, like frogs, can breathe in water with their gills, and on land through their moist skin.