Areas of Clinical Interest

The respiratory system is the network of organs and tissues that help you breathe. Your airways, lungs, and blood vessels work together with muscles that power your lungs to move oxygen throughout the body and clean out waste gases like carbon dioxide.

Besides helping you inhale (breathe in) and exhale (breathe out), the respiratory system has many functions:

• Allows you to talk and smell.
• Brings air to body temperature and moisturizes it to the humidity level your body needs.
• Delivers oxygen to the cells in your body.
• Removes waste gases, including carbon dioxide.
• Protects your airways from harmful substances and irritants.

The respiratory system has many different parts working together to help you breathe.

Your airways deliver air to your lungs and is a complicated system that includes your:

• Mouth and nose: Openings that pull air from outside your body into your respiratory system.
• Sinuses: Hollow areas between the bones in your head that help regulate the temperature and humidity of the air you inhale.
• Pharynx (throat): Tube that delivers air from your mouth and nose to the trachea (windpipe).
• Trachea: Passage connecting your throat and lungs.
• Bronchial tubes: Tubes at the bottom of your windpipe that connect into each lung.
• Lungs: Removes oxygen from the air and passes it into your blood.

                From your lungs, your bloodstream delivers oxygen to all your organs and other  

                tissues.

Conditions that can cause inflammation (swelling, irritation, and pain) or otherwise affect the respiratory system include:

• Allergies:  Proteins, such as dust, mold, and pollen, can cause respiratory allergies  in some people and can cause inflammation in your airways.
• Asthma: A chronic (long-term) disorder.  Asthma causes inflammation in the airways that can make breathing difficult.
• Infection: Infections can lead to pneumonia or bronchitis.  Common respiratory infections include the flu or a cold.
• Disease: Respiratory disorders include lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. T
• Aging: Lung capacity decreases as you get older.
• Damage: Damage to the respiratory system can cause breathing problems.