Respiratory System

Everything thinks that the heart is the most important thing in your body, and sure it's up there, but it is highly dependent on a lot of other body systems, specifically, the respiratory system. Without the respiratory system to oxygenate the blood, you wouldn't be here reading my blog post! The trillion cells in your body need oxygen so that they can keep you alive, a pretty essential thing to do if you ask me, and they can't exactly get that through any other way, but the highly efficient, highly effective transfer of waste and oxygen, through the respiratory system. Not only does it oxygenate the blood, but it also removes waste from the blood, all through simple diffusion too and in a short amount of time, but HOW!?



So, the diaphragm contracts, moving downward, which helps to suck air into the lungs, through the change in volume which affects pressure (inversely proportional, it's a physics thing!). The air travels down the trachea, in the the bronchus, into a bronchial tree and into the alveoli at the end of the tree. There are thousands of alveoli in the lung that all perform this transfer of materials through the tiny capillaries that cover the alveoli, which kind of resemble a bunch of grapes.

Once in the alveoli, the blood is right there and the CO2 leaving the blood, as well as H20, simply transfer down their concentration gradient so that they can exit through the exhalation when you breathe out. The oxygen in the air you breathe in shuffles across to the blood, down it's concentration gradient, so that it can be at a happy medium too. Then the air, now containing the waste from the cells moves back through the bronchial trees, out through the bronchus, up the trachea and out the oral or nasal cavity meaning the diaphragm can relax and breathe out. Simple? SURE THING!

Without this one system in the body, the body cannot support life. It's that essential and that simple. So, if you have the ability to breathe on your own, please, don't take it for granted! It means more to you than you think!