RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
INTRODUCE (medical English)
The respiratory system includes the lungs (lung, root: pulmon/o, pneum/o, pneuomon/o) together with the system connecting the lungs to the nose (nasal cavity: nasal cavity) and mouth (oral cavity: oral cavity). These tubes include the pharynx (pharynx, root: pharyng/o), larynx (larynx, root: laryng/o), windpipe (trachea, root:trache/o), bronchi (bronchi (pl) , bronchus (SL); root bronch/o, bronchi/o), the bronchioles (bronchioles, root: bronchiol/o).
The function of the respiratory system is to bring oxygen into the body and remove waste gases from the body. Your body needs oxygen (root: ox/o, ox/i) to survive. Oxygen is needed for cellular respiration, one of the processes used by cells to make energy from food.
Your body also needs a way to get rid of emissions like CO2 (suffix: –capnia), one of the waste products produced in cellular respiration (cellular respiration). In this chapter you will learn how air moves into the respiratory system and how air is exchanged between the lungs and the bloodstream.
(medical english) Translator: Minh Man Huynh
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM SOLUTION
You will learn the anatomy of the respiratory system by studying the pathway from when new air enters the nose or mouth to gas exchange occurring in the lungs.
Upper respiratory tract
The respiratory system, or airway, begins in the nasal cavity, which is the opening of the nose. Air is warmed in the nasal cavity.
Air particles, small objects like dust, bacteria, viruses, are trapped by the nose hairs, thus helping to prevent disease because harmful bacteria and viruses are prevented from entering the body. Normally, humans breathe through the nose, but sometimes people breathe through the mouth or oral cavity.
All air entering the respiratory tract passes through the oropharynx. The pharynx begins at the back of the nasal cavity and extends down through the oral cavity to the level of the chin.
When air reaches the upper part of the throat, there are two routes that air can take: into the esophagus or the larynx. If air enters the esophagus, it goes to the stomach.
Do you want gas in your stomach? Are not. In fact, the presence of gas in your stomach can make you hiccup. Instead, the gas needs to enter the larynx. The larynx is the pathway that carries air to the lungs.
Laryngitis
Bacterial and viral infections can cause the vocal cords to swell (larger), making it difficult to speak. This condition is called laryngitis. Laryngitis can also be caused by smoking, alcohol, talking too much, shouting, coughing or singing.
Recall from the chapter that the digestive system has a tissue sample called the epiglottis, which closes when you swallow food to prevent food from entering the larynx.
The epiglottis stays open when you breathe. In addition to being part of the airways, the larynx is called the vocal box, where the voice comes out. The vocal cords are attached to either side of the larynx. When air strikes the vocal cords, they vibrate and sound is produced.
The reason people have different voices is that their vocal cords are different in length and thickness. Because of the influence of the hormone testosterone, men have thicker and longer vocal cords than women.
After the gas enters the larynx, it enters the trachea. A word commonly used in place of the trachea is “windpipe”.
The trachea is a rather rigid tube that carries air from the larynx to the lungs. The trachea is quite rigid because it is covered/supported by rings of cartilage (Recall that this cartilage is like bone but much more flexible). Many rings of cartilage surrounding the windpipe keep the larynx open for breathing and keep its shape.
(medical english drduy) Translator: Lien Nguyen
