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The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary ...
The breathing of all vertebrates with lungs consists of repetitive cycles of inhalation and exhalation through a highly branched system of tubes or airways which lead from the nose to the alveoli. [4] The number of respiratory cycles per minute is the breathing or respiratory rate, and is one of the four primary vital signs of life. [5]
The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of conducting air to the alveoli for the purposes of gas exchange in mammals. [1] The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa.
The lungs possess several characteristics which protect against infection. The respiratory tract is lined by respiratory epithelium or respiratory mucosa, with hair-like projections called cilia that beat rhythmically and carry mucus. This mucociliary clearance is an important defence system against air-borne infection. [34]
In mammals, physiological respiration involves respiratory cycles of inhaled and exhaled breaths. Inhalation (breathing in) is usually an active movement that brings air into the lungs where the process of gas exchange takes place between the air in the alveoli and the blood in the pulmonary capillaries .
The normal relaxed state of the lung and chest is partially empty. Further exhalation requires muscular work. Inhalation is an active process requiring work. [4] Some of this work is to overcome frictional resistance to flow, and part is used to deform elastic tissues, and is stored as potential energy, which is recovered during the passive process of exhalation, Tidal breathing is breathing ...
The respiratory center is divided into three major groups, two in the medulla and one in the pons. The two groups in the medulla are the dorsal respiratory group and the ventral respiratory group. In the pons, the pontine respiratory group is made up of two areas – the pneumotaxic center and the apneustic center. The dorsal and ventral ...
Accessory muscles of respiration are muscles that assist, but do not play a primary role, in breathing. Use of these while at rest is often interpreted as a sign of respiratory distress . [ 3 ] There is no definitive list of accessory muscles, but the sternocleidomastoid and the scalenes (anterior, middle, and posterior) are typically included ...