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The Respiratory System: Anatomy 101

| Health & Science

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Breathing seems so natural (to those of us who don’t have respiratory problems) that it’s almost taken for granted.

Most of us consider the lungs to be the respiratory system but by the time air reaches the main lung areas it’s passed through the nasal cavity, nasopharynx (at the back of the nasal cavity), mouth or oropharynx, larynx, trachea, main bronchus and bronchiole.

The nasal cavity is two separate parts separated by the septum or nose cartilage.  The nasal cavity lies between the palate (top of the roof of the mouth) and the floor of the cranium. This is the primary area where the air we breathe is warmed and moistened.  From there air goes to nasopharynx, the soft palate at the back of the nasal cavity and top of the throat, for more warming and moistening.  Mucus is present in the entire respiratory system not only to moisten the air but also to catch and trap dust particles and other foreign substances before they can reach the lungs.  A runny nose is a messenger and has its purpose.  Stopping Nature’s messenger can have dire consequences.  The larynx is the organ where our voice originates, and acting as a passageway for air, connects the pharynx and the trachea. 

The trachea is situated at the front of the neck and is made up of a framework consisting of nine different cartilage.  The epiglottis is a small leaf shaped membrane situated immediately behind the root of the tongue and covers the larynx during swallowing.  The thyroid cartilage is covered in my article on the thyroid under endocrine glands.  The arytenoid consists of two pyramid shaped cartilage that lie at the back of the larynz at the upper edge of the cricoid. The cricoid is shaped like a signet ring and forms part of the anterior and lateral walls, as well as most of the posterior walls, of the larynx.  The corniculate and cuneiform cartilage articulates with the metatarsal bones.  These various parts and pieces make it possible for speech, swallowing and other functions while the head is turning, moving side to side and pitched forward and back.

The bronchus is any of the trachea that has cartilage and mucus glands in its walls.  The main bronchus splits into two bronchi, one going to either lung.  From there the bronchi divides into multiple smaller bronchiole, none of which contain cartilage or mucus glands in their walls.  There are multiples of bronchioles that conduct air to the acinus, or small sac, which is the lung as we generally think of it.

Breathing through the mouth bypasses a large portion of the warming, moisturizing and particle elimination from the air before it reaches the lungs and other highly sensitive areas of the respiratory system.  Breathing through the mouth also triggers the fight or flight response and the brain sends signals to the glands to secrete hormones, two of which are hydrocortisone (cortisone) and epinephrine (adrenaline). 

The release of the hormones cortisone and adrenaline, causes changes in the body including elevated heart rate and blood pressure.  The points here are many including how we exercise.  If we chose to exercise beyond the comfort zone and have to pant or breathe through the mouth, we’ve entered the areas of fight or flight and general discontent concerning an exercise program. Exercise can assist in anti-aging but can also speed the aging process/sickness cycle if we choose the wrong exercise or go beyond our comfort zone.        

The process of breathing does more than just allow air in and out of the lungs.  With every breath lymph is pumped, blood is rejuvenated, the stomach moves assisting in digestion and the heart and other internal organs are massaged and stimulated.  Each breath passes through or over lymph tissue and millions of hair like projections called cilia that filter, re-filter and remove any particles that may damage the lungs.  The respiratory system connects the inner body to the outer atmosphere.  The lungs contain miles of air passages.

The entire system could be likened to an upside down tree with two main branches, one on either side.  As the tree branches out the parts get smaller and more numerous with the final parts being smaller that a human hair.  Blood circulates around the microscopic parts of the lungs picking up oxygen in the hemoglobin ring of red corpuscles for delivery to the cellular level.  An inadequate supply of water, and/or iron, in the blood stream restricts the amount of oxygen that will be absorbed by the hemoglobin ring.  Sodas, beer, wine and sports drinks can’t take the place of water.  No matter how large the lungs if there is inadequate water and/or iron, the cellular level will be starved for oxygen.
                     

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About Larry Miller

I was born in Los Angeles in 1940. My father was a fighter pilot instructor during WWll and we moved from coast to coast, maybe that’s where I got the nomad in my blood. After graduating from high school in 1958 I joined the Marines. That lifestyle wasn’t for me and upon my discharge I went on with my life, and have never looked back. I worked briefly for a Caterpillar dealer in Riverside, CA before moving back to N. California where I was a welder and truck driver for a chemical company. Truck driving wasn’t my calling anymore than being in the Marines, and I went back to work for another Caterpillar dealer steam cleaning dirty tractor parts and welding. They sent me to schools, lots and lots of schools. I spent as much time going to trade schools as I did at work. I went from cleaning parts to apprentice field mechanic, to mechanic to the parts department to satellite store manager in less than two years. They wanted me to move to Sacramento and be a salesman: I moved to Oregon to learn to commune with nature. I went to work for another heavy equipment dealer and was later contacted by the World’s largest Lorraine Crane dealer and offered the position of purchasing agent and general parts manager. In 1967 I was offered a line of automotive parts and supplies and went into business for myself. My business revolved around eleven race cars that we maintained for others, driving race cars professionally and maintaining high end sports cars. I was a championship and regional champion driver. My business was the largest import parts and service, non dealer, in the state until I sold it in 1979. We went sailing in 79, first to Mexico and then Hawaii. I was an award winning Trans-Pacific sailor and sailor of the year, Hawaii, Island of Kauai. An opportunity presented itself in Hawaii during 1981 and I was back in business, importing Japanese auto body and hard parts. I also felt the pull to write and began freelancing for magazines and newspapers in 1982. My main focus in my articles is, and always has been, health, wellness and fitness. Most of us have heard the saying, “Time is all we have.” I disagree. Our health is all we have, because without our health, we have no time. I was a US Olympic team hopeful in racewalking and held all the records for the state of Hawaii. As a sponsored athlete in my forties, I finished first in nine marathons in a row in my division, qualified for the Ironman® and was the state USCF cycling champion five times in Hawaii and Oregon. Celinda and I were married in 1988 after a three year engagement. We sold our businesses and organic farm and sailed back to Oregon. After our sailboat boat was sold, we moved to Joseph, Oregon, two miles from the trailhead into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. We were caregivers for my mother the last ten years she was alive. We moved to New Mexico in 1995 because it was too cold for my mom in Oregon during the winters. Celinda designed, and I engineered and built our strawbale house. I began writing the weekly health column for a local newspaper in 1996, and still do. In 2000, I took the summer off to do a four month, 4000 mile, hike, bike and kayak odyssey. I’d been writing health, fitness and sports articles since 1982 and the journey produced a full-length, nonfiction, first person adventure book, Yol Bolsun, May There Be A Road, which can be bought from Amazon.com and others over the Internet. The summer of 2001 was spent hiking. kayaking, fishing and exploring the southwest. In 2002 Celinda and I spent the summer in Canada learning the hospitality business at a resort in preparation for doing promotion for the resort in the US. Most of 2003 was spent reestablishing the trees and landscape that had died during the stay in Canada. We had a house sitter and the house sitter had an ex-husband, and that’s a long story. In July of 2004 I did a solo kayak trip on the Snake River, taking pictures, writing articles and pencil sketching the journey. I hope to do another kayak adventure on the Snake River during the summer of 2008, on the section I missed in 2000 and 2004. In 2005, I returned to Canada to the resort where we’d spent 2002. I was supposed to be there for the month of June. I’d contacted people I’d met in 2002 and they came back to Canada to fish, hike and spend time at the resort, Echo Valley Ranch and Spa, while I was there. My one month became five and then it was off to Spain to do the El Camino de Santiago as a travel companion with one of the guests who’d returned to Canada in June. During the summer of 2006 a friend from Ireland, who I’d met in Spain the year before, came to visit in NM and we fished, hiked and explored the White Mountains of AZ. He’d never slept out in the wild in a tent before, and it was quite an experience, for both of us. My newspaper articles were put on the Internet beginning in 2002. I was asked to give public speaking engagements, photo and video presentations, on various subjects for the library in Deming, NM and continue to do so. In 2006 I videoed and produced a DVD for the Smithsonian Institute’s travel exhibit “Between Fences.” NMFILMS had a conference by invitation only, which I attended. While attending the conference, I realized that film making wasn’t what I wanted to do but I still wanted to use my sixteen years of experience and enjoyment of videoing and photography. During the winter of 2005, I discovered that no one on record had ever run from the Arizona border to the Texas border, a distance of 165 miles. During the spring and summer of 2006 I trained for the run and the run was completed in October, 2006. In late 2005, I began building and maintaining websites incorporating all the things I enjoyed about video, photography, travel and the out of doors. 2007 has been a summer of upgrading the home and property which resulted in a downgrading of my enthusiasm for being located in one place. If we don’t like what’s happening in our life, we need to change what we’re doing. Celinda and I are ready to pull up roots and move on. I guess I’ve come full circle. I’m ready to revert back to my childhood, and a nomadic lifestyle.

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