Question #236ee
1 Answer
Healthy lungs contract downwards via the diaphragm to bring oxygen in, which passes through the alveoli to oxygentae the bloodstream while simulaneously releasing carbon dioxide to be pushed out of the lungs via the diaphragm relaxing.
Emphysema damage these alveoli, restricting the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Explanation:
When you breathe in, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles (the muscles between your ribs), expand your chest cavity, which creates a lower air pressure inside compared to outside. Air then rushes in to equalize the pressure, carrying oxygen.
http://www.webmd.com/lung/how-we-breathe
The oxygen travels through your mouth or nose, down your windpipe and into the bronchial tubes of the lungs. From there, oxygen pass through until the bronchial tubes split into smaller ones called bronchioles, until they finally end up in the alveoli, tiny air sacs on the lungs.
From here, oxygen passes from the alveoli walls into the capillaries which are right next to them. Now that the oxygen is in the bloodstream, it binds to the hemoglobin in red blood cells so as to oxygenate the blood and provide life to the body. At the same time, carbon dioxide is released from the blood cell and travels into the alveoli.
To expel the carbon dioxide from the body, the diaphragm relaxes. When this happens, the diaphragm pushes on the lungs to create a high-air pressure inside the chest cavity. This makes the air want to rush outside to equalize the pressure, and so it does, carrying the carbon dioxide with it along the same tubes the oxygen originally entered from. This whole process occurs in seconds, and is how we breathe.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/respiratory/lung2.htm
Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and occurs when the air passages and alveoli of the lungs become irritated and damaged. It is an irreversible disease which can eventually lead to death, and is caused by by inhaling irritants into the lungs. The most common cause of Emphysema is tobacco smoking, which severely damages the alveoli.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_obstructive_pulmonary_disease#Cause
The way in which Emphysema disrupts the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between oxygen and blood is like this: When alveoli are damaged, less oxygen can be transferred to the blood. This mean less energy for cells in the body, and thus less work can be done by the person. Simultaneously, less carbon dioxide is escaping, which excarberates this feeling of breathlessness, and ultimately can cause death if the levels get too high.
http://www.mydr.com.au/respiratory-health/emphysema
I hope I helped!
