Our respiratory system works in close contact with the circulatory system to keep our body supplied with the oxygen necessary for it to complete the tasks it must do to keep us full of energy and good health.
To perform the transfer of oxygen from air to blood, and the transfer of carbon monoxide from blood to exhaled air, our lungs consist of many different parts that all work together to complete these tasks.
The respiratory system consists of our breathing passages and the lungs themselves.
First, air enters our bodies through our nostrils or mouth.
If it comes in through the nose, it passes through the nasopharynx, but if it comes through the mouth, it passes through the oral pharynx.
Next, the air travels down the throat to the glottis.
This is the flap that covers the entrance to the lungs to keep food and water from getting caught in the lungs.
After passing into the trachea, the air goes into the lungs themselves.
The lungs are complex structures made up of several different levels of tissue.
After coming into the trachea, the air passageway splits into the right and left bronchi.
The bronchi tubes split into many different bronchioles, which finally end it tiny clusters of air sacs called alveoli.
Because this is where the actual exchange of gasses occurs, the alveoli have to be tiny to allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass back and forth through the thin membranes to the blood.
Due to alveoli's tiny size, and necessity, adults have an average of 300 million of the sacs in their lungs.
If laid out, this would constitute the surface area almost of a singles-sized tennis court.
Nonetheless, they make up about 80 times the surface area of our skin.
The actual breathing process itself is controlled by the negative pressure in the thoracic cavity.
This cavity holds the heart and lungs, and it is blocked off from the rest of the body by the diaphragm.
It is lined by the pleurae, and the lymph nodes secrete a lubricating fluid to keep all of these membranes from rubbing against each other painfully.
We breathe in when our intercostal muscles contract, lifting our rib cage up and out.
Additionally, the diaphragm pulls down.
This increases the pleural space between the lungs and the ribcage, causing them to expand to fill the space.
This draws air in.
When the muscles relax, it allows the pleural space to return to its resting size, pushing the carbon dioxide out of our lungs during exhalation.
Because of the delicate structure of our lungs, things can easily go wrong and interfere with our ability to breathe.
If we inhale asbestos fibers, they can do serious damage to our lungs because they can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, pleural plaques, pleural effusion, and asbestosis.
If you or someone you know has been affected by an asbestos-related disease, you should speak to an attorney today about your options for possible financial compensation.
For more information, talk to an asbestos lawyer from Williams Kherkher today.