MEDICAL BIOLOGY, HUMAN ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Y.I. Fedoniuk 2010

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY

CHAPTER 6. THE RESPIRATORY PROCESS AND ITS PATHOLOGY

RESPIRATORY PHYSIOLOGY

THE RESPIRATORY PROCESS

Respiration is defined as the set of processes that ensure the body's demand for oxygen and the elimination of carbon dioxide.

Oxygen intake is essential for The oxidation of Organic compounds, which releases the energy required for the body's vital Functions. Carbon dioxide, as a metabolic end product, must be eliminated from the body.

In addition to gas exchange, respiration helps maintain a crucial constant of the internal environment—the pH of Body Fluids and Tissues. For instance, if the pH shifts toward the acidic side, increased ventilation helps remove more carbon dioxide.

Respiration also plays a role in maintaining a constant body Temperature.

Respiration consists of the following processes:

1) external respiration, or pulmonary ventilation - the exchange of gases between the body and the external environment;

2) Gas Exchange in the Lungs, which takes place between the alveolar air and the Blood in the capillaries of the Pulmonary Circulation;

3) gas transport, which involves the blood carrying oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs;

4) gas exchange between the blood of the systemic circulation and tissue Cells;

5) internal or tissue respiration - Biological Oxidation within cellular Cell/35.html">Mitochondria.



Last update: 08/08/2026

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