Breathing is the process of life

Breathing is a complex multistage physiological process, the essence of which is the absorption of oxygen from the environment for its subsequent participation in redox reactions.

However, it is inherent not only in higher animals, but also in all aerobic organisms, including unicellular organisms, and therefore it can be said that this is the main way of obtaining macroergic compounds. The energy that is generated in the process of breathing is further expended on the numerous needs of the organism. About 20% of all oxygen consumes the brain, tk. A lot of substrates are spent on carrying out high-speed pulses. In humans, breathing takes place in two large phases: external respiration (this is a process of gas exchange between the walls of the lungs and capillaries) and internal - the further transportation of oxygen to all cells and tissues.

Breath at the cell level

However, the first is the result of the work of organs and tissues, but cellular respiration is a process already at the molecular and atomic levels, in which oxygen is necessary for the electron transfer chain with the elimination of the negative charge from O2 and the formation of water and high-energy compounds. Also, for the continuous flow of these reactions, specialized proteins and the proton donor are needed. The breathing of higher organisms and the process of respiration of organisms, measured by micrometers, differ substantially. So, bacteria differ in 3 types of relation to oxygen. Strict aerobes produce molecular oxygen directly: they use oxygen bound (carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, etc.), while molecular ones are disastrous. The mixed type of respiration in facultative bacteria implies the possibility of using both bound and molecular oxygen depending on the conditions.

Mechanisms of human breathing

So, external breathing is a process that takes place due to the structure of the airways and the work of the musculature of the chest and diaphragm, due to which the pressure in the lungs decreases, the gases move inside. Exhalation is the reverse process, in which air (mainly carbon dioxide) comes out. Normally, the flow of gases along the respiratory tract is laminar, that is, parallel to the walls of the bronchi, and in the event of obstacles (obturation with a foreign object, congestion of mucus), turbulent vortices arise. Saturation of blood with oxygen occurs in the lungs, after which it, oxygenated, is transported through the capillaries, collected in larger vessels and eventually enters the heart. From there, it emerges on the aorta and enters a large circle of circulation.

Pathology

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of breathing and ventilation. The second is the process of contraction of the intercostal and deep muscles of the chest to change its size, the movement of air along the trachea and bronchi to the alveoli. In turn, breathing is a process not less active, but it means gas exchange at the alveolar-capillary level. Causes of poor ventilation may include diseases with airway damage, chest deformation, obstruction or restriction (emphysema, bronchial asthma, bronchitis), systemic scleroderma. Massive ventilation of the lungs can also be due to pathological conditions: infection, pharmacological action of drugs, overexcitation, high physical activity.