RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Respiratory System

The primary function of the respiratory system is to supply the blood with oxygen in order for the blood to deliver oxygen to all parts of the body. The respiratory system does this through breathing. When we breathe, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases is the respiratory system's means of getting oxygen to the blood.

Respiration is achieved through the mouth, nose, trachea, lungs, and diaphragm. Oxygen enters the respiratory system through the mouth and the nose. The oxygen then passes through the larynx (where speech sounds are produced) and the trachea which is a tube that enters the chest cavity. In the chest cavity, the trachea splits into two smaller tubes called the bronchi. Each bronchus then divides again forming the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes lead directly into the lungs where they divide into many smaller tubes which connect to tiny sacs called alveoli. The average adult's lungs contain about 600 million of these spongy, air-filled sacs that are surrounded by capillaries. The inhaled oxygen passes into the alveoli and then diffuses through the capillaries into the arterial blood. Meanwhile, the waste-rich blood from the veins releases its carbon dioxide into the alveoli. The carbon dioxide follows the same path out of the lungs when you exhale.

The diaphragm's job is to help pump the carbon dioxide out of the lungs and pull the oxygen into the lungs. The diaphragm is a sheet of muscles that lies across the bottom of the chest cavity. As the diaphragm contracts and relaxes, breathing takes place. When the diaphragm contracts, oxygen is pulled into the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes, carbon dioxide is pumped out of the lungs.

Disorders

Every six seconds people with serious respiratory disease are reminded that their breathing is impaired, that they are not getting enough oxygen with every breath, that they cannot enjoy life as they used to, that their activities are restricted and that their lives may not be as long. 

As an important member of your respiratory care team, Medical Supplies & Equipment Company, LLC is dedicated to helping respiratory disease patients achieve the highest level of treatment available. We select quality respiratory care equipment from top manufacturers to make sure you are receiving exactly the respiratory care treatment your physician prescribes. Our respiratory care product specialists will be pleased to work with you and your respiratory care team members to furnish respiratory care supplies & equipment specifically designed to help you treat or manage respiratory disease.

Common respiratory diseases treated by respiratory care physicians and other specialists include:

·         Asthma - constriction of hypersensitive airways;

·         Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - lung disease causing shortness of breath;

·         Chronic Bronchitis - inflammation and permanent scarring of the bronchial tubes

·         Emphysema - damage to air sacs walls causing loss of elasticity;

·         Pleurisy - inflammation of the pleural membrane lining lungs and the chest cavity;

·         Lung Cancer - malignant tumors that develop in lung tissue

·         Acute Bronchitis-inflammation of the bronchial tubes;

·         Influenza - serious infection cause by the influenza virus;

·         Pneumonia - infection of the lungs caused by a virus or bacteria;

·         Sinusitis - inflammation of the sinus cavities;

·         Common Cold - infection caused by a virus;

However, respiratory disease may involve more than lung disease, and can include a malfunction of the brain stem controlling the breathing mechanism, or disease and malfunction of the diaphragm and surrounding muscles.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus) is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis.^[1] Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit their saliva through the air. Most infections are asymptomatic and latent, but about one in 10 latent infections eventually progresses to active disease which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those so infected.

The classic symptoms of active TB infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the latter giving rise to the formerly prevalent term "consumption"). Infection of other organs causes a wide range of symptoms. Diagnosisof active TB relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), as well as microscopic examination and microbiological culture of body fluids. Diagnosis of latent TB relies on the tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or blood tests. Treatment is difficult and requires administration of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. Social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) infections. Prevention relies on screening programs and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine.

One third of the world's population is thought to have been infected with M. tuberculosis, with new infections occurring at a rate of about one per second. In 2007, there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases globally, while in 2010, there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.5 million associated deaths, mostly occurring in developing countries. The absolute number of tuberculosis cases has been decreasing since 2006, and new cases have decreased since 2002. The distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform across the globe; about 80% of the population in many Asian and African countries test positive in tuberculin tests, while only 5–10% of the United States population tests positive. More people in the developing world contract tuberculosis because of compromised immunity, largely due to high rates of HIV infection and the corresponding development of AIDS 

Cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disease of the mucus and sweat glands. It affects mostly your lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses and sex organs. CF causes your mucus to be thick and sticky. The mucus clogs the lungs, causing breathing problems and making it easy for bacteria to grow. This can lead to problems such as repeated lung infections and lung damage.

The symptoms and severity of CF vary widely. Some people have serious problems from birth. Others have a milder version of the disease that doesn't show up until they are teens or young adults.

Although there is no cure for CF, treatments have improved greatly in recent years. Until the 1980s, most deaths from CF occurred in children and teenagers. Today, with improved treatments, some people who have CF are living into their forties, fifties, or older.

Asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease that affects your airways. Your airways are tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways become sore and swollen. That makes them very sensitive, and they may react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. When your airways react, they get narrower and your lungs get less air. This can cause wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and trouble breathing, especially early in the morning or at night.

When your asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it's called an asthma attack. In a severe asthma attack, the airways can close so much that your vital organs do not get enough oxygen. People can die from severe asthma attacks.

Asthma is treated with two kinds of medicines: quick-relief medicines to stop asthma symptoms and long-term control medicines to prevent symptoms.