Respiratory System : The Classical World

Introduction

The respiratory system deals with constant exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide in the blood, something the body cells require. Otherwise the result could be brain damage or even death. It obviously works closely with the cardiovascular system.

Its major organs are the nose, the mouth, throat, voicebox, windpipe, bronchial tubes, microscopic airsacs and lungs. Respiration or ventilation involves the exchange of air. Inspiration or inhalation involves intake, expiration or exhalation involves outflow.

External respiration involves the exchange of gases between the alveoli and capillaries in the pulmonary circulation.

Internal respiration involves the exchanges at the cellular level, where the oxygen necessary for metabolism (all the changes within the body, physical and chemical, that are essential for life) passes from the bloodstream to the tissues; and carbon dioxide, the waste product of metabolism, passes from the tissue cells to the bloodstream to the alveoli for exhalation.