My Body Is Doing What?!
A simplified description on how we breathe.
Your lungs are similar to the make up of an elastic bag. It does not have any muscular attachment so muscles surrounding aid in the breathing process.
Here are some key words to help you understand:
Thoracic cavity: the chamber of the human body that contains your heart, great vessels, trachea, bronchi, and lungs.
Alveoli: Structures in your body that act as the primary gas exchangers in your lungs.
Bronchioles: Passageways for air to pass air to eventually pass through the nose or mouth.
When we inhale:
- The External Intercostal Muscles contract by pulling the ribs, at the same time the diaphragm below the lungs also contracts, increasing the Thoracic area. This increase in Thoracic size creates a negative pressure in your lungs which brings in fresh air.
- This fresh air comes in and fills your Alveoli with oxygen, the Alveoli are tiny structures in your lungs that are clustered like grapes, and help with exchanging oxygen to your blood stream.
- Your lungs "trade" oxygen into the bloodstream and the lungs fill up in exchange with Carbon Dioxide.
- The Diaphragm muscles relax and the Diaphragm returns to its original structure.
- This relaxation decreases the Thoracic Volume.
- The Internal Intercostal Muscles begin to contract, making your ribs go back to their normal position.
- As the volume decreases, the lungs are forced to contract.
To read a little more on the process you visit these sites:
Link 1
Link 2
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