If you are reading this you have a working set of lungs they will be going in, out, up and down without you even knowing. That is the wonderful thing about life: it happens and you don't need to think too much about it. Imagine if you had to say: "excuse me but I can't talk just now - I have to focus on keeping breathing and ensuring my heart is still beating". It just all works as if by magic.
Until now! Nothing ever will just happen or just work it must have some reason behind it or else it would not work. Maybe you don't need an explanation, well I do.
If you, like me, hate not knowing how something works: here is how.
You breathe between 15 and 25 times per minuet (how fit you are, how much work you are doing ectra) and if you really want you can stop it. You have an active and passive control over your lungs as you can breathe normally or can actively slow or speed up breathing rate try it if you like.
Effectively the lungs role is to get rid of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and to take in oxygen (O 2 ). The CO 2 (carbon dioxide) is a waste product of respiration and O 2 (oxygen) is needed to break down food to get the most energy. When you respire (break down food for energy) this is what happens:
Glucose (sugar) + Oxygen > > > > > > > > > > > > Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy
Or more complex:
C6H1206 +O2 > > > > > > > > > > > > > CO2 + H2O +Ec
In order to do this several structures work together to get substances into and out of the body. The main structures involved are:
- Lungs
- Trachea (windpipe)
- Alveoli (air sacs)
- Capillaries and blood vessels
- Ribs
- Intercostal muscles (muscles between ribs)
- Diaphragm
- Chest cavity
The windpipe (trachea) is forced open by the force of air entering and air leaving. The rest of the system works differently whether you inhale or exhale.
When you inhale the Intercostal muscles and diaphragm relax allowing air to flow in. The ribs also move out to increase the size of the chest cavity to allow more air in. At which point the oxygen moves out into the blood in capillaries around the little air sacs called alveoli. The oxygen is taken to the cells to carry out the above process.
However, when you exhale every thing works differently. The capillaries transport CO 2 into the air in the lungs to be removed. The air is removed by the contraction of the diaphragm forcing the air out as the lung volume is decreased less room for the air. The diaphragm is aided by the ribs which move down and in, due the Intercostal muscles between them.
So, that's a simple explanation why and how the lungs work. Stay tuned for the next part.
