Respiration (physiology)

Respiration (physiology)

In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of Oxygen from the outside air to the cells within tissues and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. This is in contrast to the biochemical definition of respiration, which refers to cellular respiration: the metabolic process by which an organism obtains energy by reacting oxygen with glucose to give water, carbon dioxide and ATP (energy). Although physiologic respiration is necessary to sustain cellular respiration and thus life in animals, the processes are distinct: cellular respiration takes place in individual cells of the animal, while physiologic respiration concerns the bulk flow and transport of metabolites between the organism and external environment.

In unicellular organisms, simple diffusion is sufficient for gas exchange: every cell is constantly bathed in the external environment, with only a short distance for gases to flow across. In contrast, complex multicellular animals such as humans have a much greater distance between the environment and their innermost cells, thus, a respiratory system is needed for effective gas exchange. The respiratory system works in concert with a circulatory system to carry gases to and from the tissues.

In air-breathing vertebrates such as humans, respiration of oxygen includes four stages:
*Ventilation, moving of the ambient air into and out of the alveoli of the lungs.
*Pulmonary gas exchange, exchange of gases between the alveoli and the pulmonary capillaries.
*Gas transport, movement of gases within the pulmonary capillaries through the circulation to the peripheral capillaries in the organs, and then a movement of gases back to the lungs along the same circulatory route.
*Peripheral gas exchange, exchange of gases between the tissue capillaries and the tissues or organs, impacting the cells composing these and mitochondria within the cells.

Note that ventilation and gas transport require energy to power a mechanical pump (the heart) and the muscles of respitation, mainly the diaphragm. In heavy breathing, energy is also required to power additional respiatory muscles such as the intercostal muscles. The energy requirement for ventiliation and gas transport is in contrast to the passive diffusion taking place in the gas exchange steps.

Respiratory physiology is the branch of human physiology concerned with respiration.

Classifications of respiration

There are several ways to classify the physiology of respiration:

By species

* Aquatic respiration
* Buccal pumping

By mechanism

* Respiration organ
* Gas exchange
* Arterial blood gas
* Control of respiration
* Apnea

By experiments

* Huff and puff apparatus
* Spirometry
* Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry
*

By disorders

* Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
* Myasthenia gravis
* Asthma
* Drowning
* Choking
* Dyspnea
* Anaphylaxis
* Pneumonia
* Severe acute respiratory syndrome
* Aspiration (medicine) - Pulmonary edema

By medication

* Asthma medication

By intensive care and emergency medicine

* CPR
* Mechanical ventilation
* Intubation
* Iron lung
* Intensive care medicine
* Liquid breathing
* ECMO
* Oxygen toxicity
* Medical ventilator
* Paramedic
* Life support
* General anaesthesianik
* Bronchoscopy
* Laryngoscope

By other medical topics

* Respiratory therapy
* Breathing gases
* Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
* Hypoxia
* Gas embolism
* Decompression sickness
* Barotrauma
* Oxygen toxicity
* Nitrogen narcosis
* Carbon dioxide poisoning
* Carbon monoxide poisoning
* HPNS
* Salt water aspiration syndrome

See also

* Respiratory system
* List of basic biology topics


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • respiration — respirational, adj. /res peuh ray sheuhn/, n. 1. the act of respiring; inhalation and exhalation of air; breathing. 2. Biol. a. the sum total of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells,… …   Universalium

  • Physiology of dinosaurs — Note: In this article dinosaur means non avian dinosaur, since most experts regard birds as an advanced group of dinosaurs. The physiology of dinosaurs has historically been a controversial subject, particularly thermoregulation. Recently, many… …   Wikipedia

  • Respiration — In biochemistry, respiration may refer to: *Cellular respiration, the process in which the chemical bonds of energy rich molecules such as glucose are converted into energy usable for life processes *Aerobic respiration, a process that allows… …   Wikipedia

  • respiration, human — ▪ physiology Introduction       the process by which oxygen is taken up and carbon dioxide discharged. The design of the respiratory system  The human gas exchanging organ, the lung, is located in the thorax, where its delicate tissues are… …   Universalium

  • physiology — /fiz ee ol euh jee/, n. 1. the branch of biology dealing with the functions and activities of living organisms and their parts, including all physical and chemical processes. 2. the organic processes or functions in an organism or in any of its… …   Universalium

  • Respiration circulaire — La respiration circulaire (ou souffle continu) est une technique de respiration qui permet de maintenir, pendant un laps de temps assez long, un souffle d air continu à l aide de la bouche. Sommaire 1 Problématique 2 Technique 3 Liens extern …   Wikipédia en Français

  • physiology — [[t]fɪ̱ziɒ̱ləʤi[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT Physiology is the scientific study of how people s and animals bodies function, and of how plants function. ...the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology. Derived words: physiologist plural N COUNT ... a retired …   English dictionary

  • Control of respiration — Control of ventilation refers to the physiological mechanisms involved in the control of physiologic ventilation. Gas exchange primarily controls the rate of respiration. The most important function of breathing is gas exchange (of oxygen and… …   Wikipedia

  • Cheyne-Stokes respiration — ICD 10 R06.3 ICD 9 786.04 MeSH D002639 …   Wikipedia

  • Respiratory physiology — is the branch of human physiology focusing upon respiration.Topics include:Volumes* lung volumes * vital capacity * functional residual capacity * dead space * spirometry * body plethysmography * peak flow meterMechanicsBreathing in, or inhaling …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”