Details about respiratory organs of beings
Hyderabad: This article is in continuation of our decoding our prominent body organs. We had discussed about the digestion and absorption of food and the diseases related to it. In this article, we will discuss about the function of lungs and the respiratory organs in a human body. BREATHING AND EXCHANGE OF GASES • Oxygen […]
Hyderabad: This article is in continuation of our decoding our prominent body organs. We had discussed about the digestion and absorption of food and the diseases related to it. In this article, we will discuss about the function of lungs and the respiratory organs in a human body.
BREATHING AND EXCHANGE OF GASES
• Oxygen (O2) is utilised by the organisms to indirectly break down simple molecules like glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, etc., to derive energy to perform various activities.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2), which is harmful, is also released during the above catabolic reactions.
• It is, therefore, evident that O2 has to be continuously provided to the cells and CO2 produced by the cells have to be released out.
• This process of exchange of O2 from the atmosphere with CO2 produced by the cells is called breathing, commonly known as respiration.
• The respiratory organs and the mechanism of breathing are described in the following sections.
RESPIRATORY ORGANS
• Mechanisms of breathing vary among different groups of animals, depending mainly on their habitats and levels of organisation.
• Lower invertebrates like sponges, coelenterates, flatworms, etc., exchange O2 with CO2 by simple diffusion over their entire body surface.
• Earthworms use their moist cuticle.
• Insects have a network of tubes (tracheal tubes) to transport atmospheric air within the body.
• Special vascularised structures called gills (branchial respiration) are used by most of the aquatic arthropods and molluscs.
• Whereas vascularised bags called lungs (pulmonary respiration) are used by the terrestrial forms for the exchange of gases.
• Among vertebrates, fishes use gills whereas amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals respire through lungs.
• Amphibians like frogs can respire through their moist skin (cutaneous respiration) also.
