FOCUS QUESTIONS WEEK 5 RESPIRATORY SYSTEM COMPLETE ANSWERS
Respiratory System:
1. What is the purpose of the respiratory system?
Through breathing, inhalation and exhalation, the respiratory system facilitates the
exchange of gases between the air and the blood and between the blood and the
body’s cells. The respiratory system also helps us to smell and create sound.
2. What body structures are included in the respiratory system?
Upper respiratory tract: Composed of the nose, the pharynx, and the larynx, the
organs of the upper respiratory tract are located outside the chest cavity.
Nasal cavity: Inside the nose, the sticky mucous membrane lining the nasal cavity
traps dust particles, and tiny hairs called cilia help move them to the nose to be
sneezed or blown out.
Sinuses: These air-filled spaces along side the nose help make the skull lighter.
Pharynx: Both food and air pass through the pharynx before reaching their
appropriate destinations. The pharynx also plays a role in speech.
Larynx: The larynx is essential to human speech.
Lower respiratory tract: Composed of the trachea, the lungs, and all segments of the
bronchial tree (including the alveoli), the organs of the lower respiratory tract are
located inside the chest cavity.
Trachea: Located just below the larynx, the trachea is the main airway to the lungs.
Lungs: Together the lungs form one of the body’s largest organs. They’re responsible
for providing oxygen to capillaries and exhaling carbon dioxide.
Bronchi: The bronchi branch from the trachea into each lung and create the network
of intricate passages that supply the lungs with air.
Diaphragm: The diaphragm is the main respiratory muscle that contracts and relaxes
to allow air into the lungs.
3. What is tidal volume?
Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal
breath.
4. What are alveoli and how do they function?
Alveoli are an important part of the respiratory system whose function it is to
exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules to and from the bloodstream. These
tiny, balloon-shaped air sacs sit at the very end of the respiratory tree and are
arranged in clusters throughout the lungs. There are three overall processes involved
in your breathing: moving air in and out of your lungs (ventilation), oxygen-carbon
dioxide exchange (diffusion), and pumping blood through your lungs (perfusion).
5. What keeps the alveoli from collapsing?
Pulmonary surfactant mixture of lipids and proteins which is secreted into the
alveolar space by epithelial type II cells. The main function of surfactant is to lower
the surface tension at the air/liquid interface within the alveoli of the lung. This is
needed to lower the work of breathing and to prevent alveolar collapse at end-
expiration.
6. How is oxygen carried in the body?
A small amount of oxygen does dissolve in the blood and is transported in the
bloodstream, but it is only about 1.5% of the total amount. The majority of oxygen
molecules are carried from the lungs to the body’s tissues by a specialized transport
, system, which relies on the erythrocyte—the red blood cell. Erythrocytes contain a
metalloprotein, hemoglobin, which serves to bind oxygen molecules to the
erythrocyte. Heme is the portion of hemoglobin that contains iron, and it is heme that
binds oxygen. One hemoglobin molecule contains iron-containing Heme molecules,
and because of this, each hemoglobin molecule is capable of carrying up to four
molecules of oxygen. As oxygen diffuses across the respiratory membrane from the
alveolus to the capillary, it also diffuses into the red blood cell and is bound by
hemoglobin. The following reversible chemical reaction describes the production of
the final product, oxyhemoglobin(Hb–O2), which is formed when oxygen binds to
hemoglobin. Oxyhemoglobin is a bright red-colored molecule that contributes to the
bright red color of oxygenated blood.
7. What is PaO2, SaO2, and SpO2?
SpO2 = oxygen saturation as measured by pulse oximeter
SaO2 = oxygen saturation as measured by blood analysis (e.g. a blood gas)
PaO2 = partial pressure of oxygen in the blood, as measured by blood analysis.
8. What controls the respiratory system?
The medulla oblongata is the primary respiratory control center. Its main function is
to send signals to the muscles that control respiration to cause breathing to occur.
There are two regions in the medulla that control respiration: the ventral respiratory
group stimulates expiratory movements and the dorsal respiratory group stimulates
inspiratory movements. The medulla also controls the reflexes for nonrespiratory air
movements, such as coughing and sneezing reflexes, as well as other reflexes, like
swallowing and vomiting.
9. What subjective assessment data is relevant to the respiratory system?
Important health information: Past health history, medications, surgery or other
treatments
Any risk factors for respiratory disease
Smoking: Pack years (PPD x years), exposure to smoke, history of attempts to quite,
methods, results
Sedentary lifestyle, immobilization
Age
Environmental exposure: Dust, Chemicals, asbestos, air pollution
Family History
Respiratory Infections or disease
Trauma
Surgery intubated
Chronic conditions of other systems
Family health history
o Tuberculosis
o Emphysema
o lung cancer
o allergies
o asthma
10. What objective assessment data is relevant to the respiratory system?
Nose: redness, runny, etc
- Mouth and pharynx: use light source/tongue blade
Respiratory System:
1. What is the purpose of the respiratory system?
Through breathing, inhalation and exhalation, the respiratory system facilitates the
exchange of gases between the air and the blood and between the blood and the
body’s cells. The respiratory system also helps us to smell and create sound.
2. What body structures are included in the respiratory system?
Upper respiratory tract: Composed of the nose, the pharynx, and the larynx, the
organs of the upper respiratory tract are located outside the chest cavity.
Nasal cavity: Inside the nose, the sticky mucous membrane lining the nasal cavity
traps dust particles, and tiny hairs called cilia help move them to the nose to be
sneezed or blown out.
Sinuses: These air-filled spaces along side the nose help make the skull lighter.
Pharynx: Both food and air pass through the pharynx before reaching their
appropriate destinations. The pharynx also plays a role in speech.
Larynx: The larynx is essential to human speech.
Lower respiratory tract: Composed of the trachea, the lungs, and all segments of the
bronchial tree (including the alveoli), the organs of the lower respiratory tract are
located inside the chest cavity.
Trachea: Located just below the larynx, the trachea is the main airway to the lungs.
Lungs: Together the lungs form one of the body’s largest organs. They’re responsible
for providing oxygen to capillaries and exhaling carbon dioxide.
Bronchi: The bronchi branch from the trachea into each lung and create the network
of intricate passages that supply the lungs with air.
Diaphragm: The diaphragm is the main respiratory muscle that contracts and relaxes
to allow air into the lungs.
3. What is tidal volume?
Tidal volume is a measure of the amount of air a person inhales during a normal
breath.
4. What are alveoli and how do they function?
Alveoli are an important part of the respiratory system whose function it is to
exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules to and from the bloodstream. These
tiny, balloon-shaped air sacs sit at the very end of the respiratory tree and are
arranged in clusters throughout the lungs. There are three overall processes involved
in your breathing: moving air in and out of your lungs (ventilation), oxygen-carbon
dioxide exchange (diffusion), and pumping blood through your lungs (perfusion).
5. What keeps the alveoli from collapsing?
Pulmonary surfactant mixture of lipids and proteins which is secreted into the
alveolar space by epithelial type II cells. The main function of surfactant is to lower
the surface tension at the air/liquid interface within the alveoli of the lung. This is
needed to lower the work of breathing and to prevent alveolar collapse at end-
expiration.
6. How is oxygen carried in the body?
A small amount of oxygen does dissolve in the blood and is transported in the
bloodstream, but it is only about 1.5% of the total amount. The majority of oxygen
molecules are carried from the lungs to the body’s tissues by a specialized transport
, system, which relies on the erythrocyte—the red blood cell. Erythrocytes contain a
metalloprotein, hemoglobin, which serves to bind oxygen molecules to the
erythrocyte. Heme is the portion of hemoglobin that contains iron, and it is heme that
binds oxygen. One hemoglobin molecule contains iron-containing Heme molecules,
and because of this, each hemoglobin molecule is capable of carrying up to four
molecules of oxygen. As oxygen diffuses across the respiratory membrane from the
alveolus to the capillary, it also diffuses into the red blood cell and is bound by
hemoglobin. The following reversible chemical reaction describes the production of
the final product, oxyhemoglobin(Hb–O2), which is formed when oxygen binds to
hemoglobin. Oxyhemoglobin is a bright red-colored molecule that contributes to the
bright red color of oxygenated blood.
7. What is PaO2, SaO2, and SpO2?
SpO2 = oxygen saturation as measured by pulse oximeter
SaO2 = oxygen saturation as measured by blood analysis (e.g. a blood gas)
PaO2 = partial pressure of oxygen in the blood, as measured by blood analysis.
8. What controls the respiratory system?
The medulla oblongata is the primary respiratory control center. Its main function is
to send signals to the muscles that control respiration to cause breathing to occur.
There are two regions in the medulla that control respiration: the ventral respiratory
group stimulates expiratory movements and the dorsal respiratory group stimulates
inspiratory movements. The medulla also controls the reflexes for nonrespiratory air
movements, such as coughing and sneezing reflexes, as well as other reflexes, like
swallowing and vomiting.
9. What subjective assessment data is relevant to the respiratory system?
Important health information: Past health history, medications, surgery or other
treatments
Any risk factors for respiratory disease
Smoking: Pack years (PPD x years), exposure to smoke, history of attempts to quite,
methods, results
Sedentary lifestyle, immobilization
Age
Environmental exposure: Dust, Chemicals, asbestos, air pollution
Family History
Respiratory Infections or disease
Trauma
Surgery intubated
Chronic conditions of other systems
Family health history
o Tuberculosis
o Emphysema
o lung cancer
o allergies
o asthma
10. What objective assessment data is relevant to the respiratory system?
Nose: redness, runny, etc
- Mouth and pharynx: use light source/tongue blade
