Human Respiration

Human Respiration
 Consists of cellular
respiration and gas
exchange or breathing
 Follows typical aerobic
respiration
 Without oxygen,
anaerobic reispiration
occurs and lactic acid
forms in the muscles
 Allows for gas
exchange with the
external environment
 Nasal Cavity
 Exposed to air
through nostrils
 Lined with
ciliated (hairs)
mucous
membrane
 Filters, warms,
and moistens the
air
 On to the Pharynx
 Pharynx
 Where the oral and nasal cavity meet.
 Epiglottis prevents food from entering the
trachea
 Larynx
 Between the Pharynx and your Trachea is
you larynx or voice box
 From the Pharynx to the
Trachea
 Trachea
 Conducts air between the pharynx
and bronchi
 Kept open by partial rings of
cartilage
 Line with a ciliated mucous
membrane
 Bronchi
 Bronchi
 Trachea splits into two (2) bronchi
 Same composition as trachea
 Bronchioles
 Bronchi split up into many bronchiole:
 lined mucous membrane but lack cartilage
 Where does it all end up?
 Bronchioles terminate at the alveoli:
 Thin, moist, and surrounded by capillaries
 This is where gas exchange takes place
between the outside and the blood
 Breathing
 Caused by changing pressure in the
chest cavity
 Rate is affected by the amount of
CO2 in the blood
 Affects the medulla of the brain
 It’s a feedback mechanism
 Breathing into a paper bag
 How is does the pressure
change in the chest cavity?
 The diaphragm:
 A shelf of muscle extending
between the thorax and
abdomen of mammals
 In other words it is a muscle
at the bottom of the chest
cavity the expands and
contracts.
 When the diaphragm
expands, in enlarges the
chest cavity creating a low
pressure inside the lungs
which causes air to rush into
the lungs
 When the diaphragm
contracts, in makes the chest
cavity smaller, increasing the
pressure, pushing air out of
the lungs.
 What happens to the
oxygen?
 Oxygen is carried by hemoglobin in a
cell called oxyhemoglobin
 Carbon dioxide is carried in the
plasma of the blood in the form of a
bicarbonate ion.
 Malfunctions
 Bronchitis:
 Inflammation of the membrane of bronchial
tubes caused by infection
 Malfunctions
 Asthma
 Allergic response characterized by
constriction of bronchial tubes
 Malfunctions
 Emphysema:
 Change in the structure pf the lung
characterized by enlargement or
degeneration of the alveoli
 Loss of elasticity and lung capacity
 Caused by highly polluted air or cigarette

smoke
Normal lungs
Emphysema