Physiology of Respiratory System

The respiratory system is responsible for supplying our body with oxygen. It does this by enriching blood with oxygen every time we take a breath. It also removes carbon dioxide, which is a waste gas harmful for our bodies.

We breathe oxygen through the mouth or nose, which warm up the gas and moisten it before it enters the rest of the body. The oxygen then travels through the larynx (voice box) and down the trachea (windpipe) into two bronchi, which are branch-like tissues that enter the lungs. Cilia, which are very fine hairs, grow in the larynx, trachea and bronchi. These hairs are coated with mucus that captures any germs and pollutants that are in the air we breathe before it enters the lungs. This foreign matter is then expelled from the body through swallowing, coughing or sneezing.

Once oxygen enters the lungs, it's sent to the rest of the body's organs and tissues through a network of blood vessels. These blood vessels also capture carbon dioxide emitted by the tissues as a metabolic waste.

Blood is delivered around the body through a network of arteries, veins and blood vessels. The pulmonary artery delivers oxygen and removes carbon dioxide. It sends blood containing carbon dioxide to the alveoli, which expel the gas through exhalation. The alveoli replace the carbon dioxide with oxygen through inhalation. This oxygen-rich blood then travels to the heart, which pumps it to the rest of the body. The 2 major respiratory gases, oxygen and carbon dioxide, are transported through the body in the blood. Blood plasma has the ability to transport some dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, but most of the gases transported in the blood are bonded to transport molecules. Hemoglobin is an important transport molecule found in red blood cells that carries almost 99% of the oxygen in the blood.

When one breathes normally not all the alveoli and capillaries of the lungs are opened. When respiration becomes deep, the number of the opened alveoli and capillaries increases. The flow of blood into the lungs increases when one breathes in and it decreases when one breathes out.

Exercise 6. Answer the questions:

1. What is the respiratory system responsible for?

2. What is carbon dioxide?

3. What is the function of the nose?

4. What is the nasal cavity covered with?

5. What do the cilia do?

6. How do people expel foreign matters from the respiratory tract?

7. What is the process of enriching all parts of the body with oxygen?

8. What is the main molecule responsible for transportation of oxygen throughout the body?

9. When does the number of opened alveoli increase and decrease?

Exercise 7. Translate the word-combinations in bold type into English:

1. The дихальна system is відповідає за supplying our body with oxygen.

2. We вдихаємо oxygen through the mouth or nose, which розігрівають the gas and зволожують it before it потрапляє до решти організму.

3. Жмутики вкриті слиззю, яка заполює мікроби та забруднюючі речовини that are in the air we breathe.

4. Коли кисень потрапляє до легень, it's sent to the rest of the body's organs and tissues через мережу кровоносних судин.

5. Blood plasma має здатність транспортувати розчинений кисень and carbon dioxide, but most of the gases transported in the blood приєднані до транспортних молекул.

6. Гемоглобін - це важлива транспортна молекула, яка знаходиться в червоних клітинах крові that carries almost 99% of the oxygen in the blood.

7. Потік крові до легень збільшується when one breathes in and зменшується when one breathes out.

Exercise 8. Match the word-combinations in English with their equivalents in Ukrainian:

Exercise 9. Match the terms with their definitions:

Exercise 10. Fill in prepositions from the box below where necessary:

1....… humans the compound used to transport oxygen is known...… hemoglobin.

2. Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein …… red blood cells that is responsible …… transporting oxygen ….. the tissues and removing carbon dioxide ….. them.

3. …… the lungs, hemoglobin, known for its deep red color, reacts ….. oxygen to form oxyhemoglobin.

4. Oxyhemoglobin travels ……. the bloodstream to cells, where it breaks down to form hemoglobin and oxygen, and the oxygen then passes into cells.

5. On the way back, hemoglobin combines ….. carbon dioxide to form carbaminohemoglobin, an unstable compound that, once again, breaks down and releases …… the surrounding environment.

Exercise 11. Fill in the gaps with the words and word-combinations from the box:

Mechanism of respiration

Under normal conditions, humans cannot …… much oxygen in the body. Apnea (зупинка дихання) of more than ……. leads to severe lack of oxygen in the blood circulation. Permanent brain damage can occur after …….. and death will ensue (починатися) after a few more minutes unless ventilation is restored.

Untrained humans cannot sustain voluntary apnea for more than one or two minutes. The reason for this is that the rate of breathing and the volume of each breath are tightly regulated to maintain constant values of CO2 tension and pH of the blood. In apnea, …….. is not removed through the lungs and accumulates in the blood.

When a person is immersed (занурений) in water, physiological changes due to the mammalian diving reflex (рефлекс пірнання ссавців) enable somewhat …….. of apnea even in untrained persons. Tolerance can be trained. World-class divers can hold their breath underwater up to depths of ……. and for more than ……... Apneists, in this context, are people who can hold their breath for a long time.

Exercise 12. Approve or contradict the following statements:

1. The respiratory system is responsible for supplying our body with oxygen and it also removes carbon dioxide, which is a waste gas useful for our bodies.

2. Our nose warms, moisturizes, and filters air we breathe in.

3. All foreign matters are expelled from the body through swallowing, talking or sneezing.

4. Blood vessels release carbon dioxide emitted by the tissues as a metabolic waste.

5. The coronary artery delivers oxygen and removes carbon dioxide.

6. Deoxygenated blood travels to the heart, which pumps it to the rest of the body.

7. When respiration becomes deep, the number of the closed alveoli and capillaries increases.

Exercise 13. Arrange the following statements in the correct order to explain the term “respiration”:

___Respiration takes place in the lungs.

___Respiratory system is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for the process of respiration.

___The anatomical structures of the respiratory system include trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, lungs, and diaphragm.

___This system is involved in the intake and exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an organism and the environment.

___Molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged by diffusion. This exchange process occurs in the alveoli air sacs in the lungs.

Exercise 14. Arrange the following statements in the correct order to explain the term “alveolus”:

____Found in the lung parenchyma, alveoli are the ends of the respiratory tree.

___A typical pair of human lungs contains about 700 million alveoli.

___Alveoli are the place of gaseous exchange.

___Each alveolus is closely surrounded by capillaries.

___An alveolus is an anatomical structure of the respiratory system that has the form of a hollow cavity.

Exercise 15. Arrange the following statements in the correct order to explain the term “carbon dioxide”:

___It is produced as a waste product of respiration of all aerobic organisms.

___In humans carbon dioxide is carried through the venous system and is breathed out through the lungs.

___Hemoglobin, the main oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells, carries both oxygen and carbon dioxide.

___Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas vital to life on Earth.

___Human body produces approximately 1.0 kg of carbon dioxide per day, containing 300 g of carbon.

Exercise 16. Translate into Russian paying attention to the Infinitives:

1. To identify the virus causing human influenza serologic tests are made.

2. Tuberculin seems to have no value in prevention of tuberculosis.

3. The tumor to be removed is benign.

4. I remember to have been prescribed this ointment for skin irritation.

5. The surgeon took a scalpel to make a midline abdominal incision.

6. The old man was too weak to be operated on and the doctor decided to postpone the operation.

7. N.I. Pirogov was the first to use ether anesthesia during operations.

8. We had to take the newly admitted patient for an operation immediately to prevent the rupture of the appendix.

Exercise 17. Translate into English paying attention to the use of the Infinitive:

1. Щоб виписати цього хворого ми повинні мати всі аналізи.

2. Жінка вирішила зробити операцію, щоб позбавитися шраму на обличчі.

3. Ось той хворий, якому терміново потрібно зробити рентген.

4. Він буде останнім, кто дізнається про цю страшну подію.

5. Щоб видалити зуб, треба спочатку зробити місцеве знеболювання.

6. Студенти раділи, що їм учора показали операцію на серці.

7. Він першим прийшов до операційної.

8. Молодому лікарю було важко поставити діагноз.

Exercise 18. Read the sentences and open the brackets in the correct tense and voice. Translate them into your native language:

1. The treatment, the patient (to begin) two weeks before, is quite ineffective.

2. The condition of the patient we are treating already (to become) better.

3. The scientist already (to include) the method of determining the origin of the pulmonary disease in his research.

4. The faculty where my brother studies (to train) pediatricians.

5. Patient Kirichenko (to bring) the findings of his blood analysis in 1 hour.

6. My brother (to prepare) for the exams now.

7. The pulmonary artery (to deliver) oxygen and (to remove) carbon dioxide.

8. Foreign matters (to expel) from the body through swallowing, coughing or sneezing.

Exercise 19. Make up interrogative sentences to the underlined words:

1. The right lung consists of three lobes.

2. Each lung is enclosed in a membranous sac, or pleura.

3. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported through the body in the blood.

4. Blood plasma has the ability to transport dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide.

5. When respiration becomes deep the number of closed alveoli and capillaries increases.

6. Students will be delivered a lecture on physiology of respiration in 2 days.

7. Cilia grow in the larynx, trachea and bronchi.

8. The oxygen travels through the larynx and down the trachea into two bronchi.

Завдання для самостійної роботи студентів (СРС)

Exercise 1. Topic vocabulary:

Exercise 2. Pronounce correctly:

Andreas Vesalius ['ændriəs ve 'seiliəs]; France [fra:ns]; Brussels ['brʌslz]; Belgium ['belʤəm]; Empire Roman ['empaɪə 'rəʊmən]; Aristotle ['ærɪˎstɒtəl]; emperor ['empərə]; pamphlet ['pæamflɪt]; Padua ['pædjuə]; vestibule ['vestibju:l]

Exercise 3. Read the following paying attention to the rules of reading:

-tion [ʃn ] – completion; consideration; description; misconception; dissection

-ate [ət/ɪt] – accurate; doctorate; separate, appropriate, adequate, immediate

-or [ɔ:] – force; corpse; born; cord; important; organ, sore, organism

-age [ ɪʤ ] –passage, message, cartilage, bandage, language, damage, engage

Exercise 4. Make Nouns from the Verbs and Adjectives. Translate them into Ukrainian:

a) from the Verbs with the help of suffix – ment: to achieve,to treat, to appoint, to require, to excite, to develop, to establish

b) from the Verbs with the help of suffix – (t)ion: to dissect,to consider, to define, to describe, to connect, to circulate, to add, to protect, to complete

c) from the Adjectives with the help of suffix – i (ty): human, able, active, possible, responsible, real, formal, irregular, special, abnormal

Exercise 5. Read and translate the following words and word-combinations:

Dissection: the dissection of the cadaver; to perform the dissection; to dissect the corpse; dissected into the segments; the process of dissecting; to visit a dissecting-room

Completion: upon completion of University; to complete the experiments on cadavers; completed course of studies; completing the process of investigation; a work completed in time

Description: a proper description; accurate description of the human body; to describe in detail; to describe accurately; described in many pamphlets; a student, describing the disease

Comparison: in comparison to the other processes; the degrees of comparison; to compare the different methods of treatment; comparing the results of the analyses of blood and urine

Consideration: to take into consideration; on no consideration; to consider carefully; to consider the age of the patients; considering a question; in consideration of the patient’s condition

Exercise 6. Read and translate the word combinations into your native language:

Accurate description of the organs; from ancient times; in contrast with ((to); bloodletting (venesection); the chair of Surgery and Anatomy; anatomical charts; upon completing; exact anatomical terms; the temporal bone of the skull; to come to the conclusion; the opening in the septum; the framework of the human body; the arterial pulse; to use animal corpses for dissection; taken into consideration; a new style in teaching anatomy; the process of dissecting cadavers; the lecture room; to give a proper description; in comparison to the other branches of medicine; a pamphlet on bloodletting; to correct misconceptions.

Exercise 7. Read and translate the text:

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)

Vesalius was a Flemish-born anatomist whose dissections of the human body helped to correct misconceptions dating from ancient times.

Andreas Vesalius was born on 31 December 1514 in Brussels, Belgium, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He came from a family of physicians and both his father and grandfather had served the holy Roman emperor. Vesalius studied medicine in Paris but was forced to leave before completing his degree when the Holy Roman Empire declared war on France. He then moved to Padua to study for his doctorate. Upon completion he was immediately offered the chair of Surgery and Anatomy.

In 1537 he got the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1538 his first scientific works in Anatomy were published. In 1543 his most important book "On the Structure of the Human Body" was written.

His work "On the Structure of the Human Body" consists of seven books. The bones of the skeleton, the joints and cartilages were described in the first book; the muscles — in the second; the vessels — in the third; the nerves — in the fourth; the alimentary tract — in the fifth; the heart and the respiratory system — in the sixth; the brain — in the seventh.

In all his researches Vesalius studied the anatomy of the human body on corpses. He studied the structure of the inner organs of the human body taking into consideration their functions. Vesalius was the first scientist to give a proper description of the human skeleton. He also determined that neither the right nor the left ventricles of the heart were connected. He determined that there were no opening in the septum between the left and the right heart chambers. It was a great discovery. Before Vesalius all the scientists considered that the left and the right heart chambers were connected by the opening in the septum. His discovery opened the way to the discovery of the pulmonary and systemic blood circulations in future. Vesalius did much to establish new and exact anatomical terms.

Both the great Russian scientist Pavlov and many other famous scientists said that the works written by Vesalius composed the first anatomy of the human body in which everything was based on scientific research work.

Exercise 8. Find corresponding equivalents:

Exercise 9. Translate the words given in italics into English. Translate the whole sentences into your native language:

1. Vesalius was a фламанським анатомом whose dissections of the human body helped to correct неправильне розуміння dating from ancient times.

2. Andreas Vesalius was born on 31 December 1514 in Brussels, Belgium, then part of Священної Римської імперіі.

3. Vesalius came from a family of лікарів and both his father and grandfather had served the holy Roman імператора.

4. Vesalius studied medicine in Paris but його змусили leave before completing his науковий ступінь when the Holy Roman Empire оголосила war on France.

5. Andreas Vesalius навчався at the University in Belgium, and then moved to Padua in Italy to study for his докторський ступінь.

6. Upon завершення in 1537 he was immediately offered кафедру of surgery and anatomy.

7. Vesalius believed that хірургія had to be grounded in анатомії.

8. Unusually, he always performed розтини himself and produced анатомічні карти of the blood and nervous systems as a reference aid for his students.

Exercise 10. Fill in prepositions from the box below where necessary:

1. The works written ____Vesalius composed the first anatomy __ the human body.

2. Surgery and anatomy were considered ____ little importance ___ comparison ______the other branches of medicine.

3. His work "On the Structure ___ the Human Body" consists____seven books.

4. Vesalius studied medicine______France.

5. In the same year Vesalius wrote a pamphlet ____ bloodletting, a popular treatment ____ a variety of illnesses.

6. He transformed anatomy ____ a subject that relied ____ observations taken directly ________human dissections.

7. Vesalius was a supporter of 'parallel dissections' ___ which an animal cadaver and a human cadaver are dissected simultaneously ___ order ________demonstrate the anatomical differences.

8. ____ his most important work, ____ the Fabric ___ the Human Body ____ 1543, Vesalius showed that Galen was wrong ____ some points ____ human anatomy.

Exercise 11. Replace the underlined words with their synonyms:

1. Andreas Vesalius, the famous Flemish-born anatomist, believed that the brain and the nervous system are center of the mind and emotion in contrast to the common Aristotelian belief that the heart was the center of the body.

2. Vesalius determined that there were no opening in the septum.

3. Vesalius studied the anatomy of the human body on corpses.

4. In 1537 Andreas Vesalius was immediately offered the chair of surgery and anatomy.

5. In 1538 Vesalius also published a letter on venesection, a popular treatment for almost any illness, but there was some debate about where to take the blood from.

6. In his extensive study of the skull, Vesalius claimed that the mandible consisted of one bone, whereas Galen had thought it was two separate bones.

7. Andreas Vesalius also pioneereda new style in teaching anatomy, inviting his students to watch him in the process of dissecting cadavers as he lectured, rather than just listening to readings in the subject.

8. Due to his researches Vesalius describes the source and position of each muscle of the body as well as providing information on their respective operations.

Exercise 12. Match the terms with their definitions:

Exercise 13. Answer the questions:

1. Who is widely considered to be the founder of the modern science of anatomy?

2. Where did Andreas Vesalius study medicine?

3. When was Vesalius awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine?

4. When was his most important book on human anatomy On the Structure of the Human Body written?

5. What books does his work "On the Structure of the Human Body" consist of?

6. What did Andreas Vesalius study on corpses?

7. What did the Great Russian scientist Pavlov and many other famous scientists say about the works written by Vesalius?

8. What are the greatest Vesalius’ discoveries?

Exercise 14. Read and translate the following sentences, paying attention to the predicate and italicized expressions:

1. The pathoanatomist had dissected the corpse when we came.

2. Yesterday the autopsist had dissected the corpse by 2 o’clock.