In the last post we were introduced to the lungs and have gained some valuable insight into how these air bags function from breath to breath. The constant flux of air in and out of these babies is what keeps us alive, and most of the time we are not even aware it is going on.
When we do become aware of our breathing, aside from those brief moments during our everyday life, it is usually because there is something wrong. There is disease. There is destruction. There is malfunction. Let's take an example of each of these and link them to common problems encountered by the lungs, so we can further explore how even small changes can have a huge impact on each breath. Back to Grant Park...
Asthma: The Secret Service
Please ensure you have read my last post about the lungs or none of this will make any sense. If you have read it, hopefully the rest of this will sound familiar.
If you recall from our Lollapalooza lungs, our park was surrounded by a large wall of security that relaxes to let concert goers in, and then squeezes to push them out. In and out. Over and over. These are the muscles of respiration, and include the diaphragm and muscles of the chest wall. But what were to happen if we were to beef up the security presence? Add more agents to the park, not at the periphery, but rather dispersed throughout the crowd, intermixed with all of the revellers. And let's make them a bit aggressive, pushing and squeezing the hipsters at any point, in any direction, and for no good reason. A bit less Paul Blart, a bit more Secret Service, if you know what I mean.
When we do become aware of our breathing, aside from those brief moments during our everyday life, it is usually because there is something wrong. There is disease. There is destruction. There is malfunction. Let's take an example of each of these and link them to common problems encountered by the lungs, so we can further explore how even small changes can have a huge impact on each breath. Back to Grant Park...
Asthma: The Secret Service
Please ensure you have read my last post about the lungs or none of this will make any sense. If you have read it, hopefully the rest of this will sound familiar.
If you recall from our Lollapalooza lungs, our park was surrounded by a large wall of security that relaxes to let concert goers in, and then squeezes to push them out. In and out. Over and over. These are the muscles of respiration, and include the diaphragm and muscles of the chest wall. But what were to happen if we were to beef up the security presence? Add more agents to the park, not at the periphery, but rather dispersed throughout the crowd, intermixed with all of the revellers. And let's make them a bit aggressive, pushing and squeezing the hipsters at any point, in any direction, and for no good reason. A bit less Paul Blart, a bit more Secret Service, if you know what I mean.
Well, now you have asthma in your lungs. I know you've heard of this before, but what the heck is asthma exactly? Well, first and foremost, if you have used a puffer once in your life, that doesn't mean you have asthma, or a "mild touch" of it. Asthma is a chronic, daily, and persistently pain-in-the-ass constriction of the small airways of the lungs. People with asthma can feel short of breath and wheezy because of (a) nothing, or (b) some sort of trigger (like Jub-Jub - see below).
Now what does that mean for us at the park? Well, the inflammation and muscle constriction in the small airways of the lungs in asthma is like the Secret Service at our park. There is too much security in amongst our music fans, and their presence is making it hard for the people to move in and out of the concert like we want them to, with minimal disruption of flow. The people (air) are trying to get into the park and get close to their stages (alveoli) to hear the music (gas exchange), but are being impeded by the presence of our beefed up security. And the wheeze? Well, you can imagine the sound a hipster |
makes when he/she is trying to get by our security guards ("Gawd brah, that's soo lame"). Well, the wheeze we hear in asthma is a product of the same function. It's the sound of air trying to travel through a tube (airway) that is tighter than it should be.
So how do we try to fix asthma? Well, there are a few ways to do this with medication, but let's think of our example. If we want to air to flow better, we need to do two things. First, we need the security guard to not be so aggressive. Stop pushing us around! This would be the same as using a bronchodilator (broncho = lungs, dilator = make the tube bigger). Certain medications like Ventolin ("the blue puffer") do exactly that. They help to relax the small muscles in the airways of the lungs and dilate the air passages. Second, we need to get rid of some of these security guards. We gots way too many bro. Asthmatics also use medications with steroids, which help to decrease inflammation in the lung airways. If you can decrease inflammation, air can pass through unimpeded, and taking away a chunk of the secret service would help accomplish this.
COPD: Muddy Waters
You may have heard of this before, but what exactly is COPD? Well, it stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and the top three causes of this are smoking, smoking, and (you guessed it) smoking. There are other causes, but far and away the cancer sticks are the usual culprit. If you smoke those things enough times per day over enough number of years, your lungs are going to start to suffer. But how? The toxins in cigarettes lead to structural changes in the lungs, excessive mucous production, and dysfunction of the "self cleaning" properties of the lungs. Lets expand on these.
So how do we try to fix asthma? Well, there are a few ways to do this with medication, but let's think of our example. If we want to air to flow better, we need to do two things. First, we need the security guard to not be so aggressive. Stop pushing us around! This would be the same as using a bronchodilator (broncho = lungs, dilator = make the tube bigger). Certain medications like Ventolin ("the blue puffer") do exactly that. They help to relax the small muscles in the airways of the lungs and dilate the air passages. Second, we need to get rid of some of these security guards. We gots way too many bro. Asthmatics also use medications with steroids, which help to decrease inflammation in the lung airways. If you can decrease inflammation, air can pass through unimpeded, and taking away a chunk of the secret service would help accomplish this.
COPD: Muddy Waters
You may have heard of this before, but what exactly is COPD? Well, it stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and the top three causes of this are smoking, smoking, and (you guessed it) smoking. There are other causes, but far and away the cancer sticks are the usual culprit. If you smoke those things enough times per day over enough number of years, your lungs are going to start to suffer. But how? The toxins in cigarettes lead to structural changes in the lungs, excessive mucous production, and dysfunction of the "self cleaning" properties of the lungs. Lets expand on these.
The toxic effects on the lungs occur both in the airways (paths throughout the park) and in the alveoli themselves (the concert stages). The paths throughout our lung park will start to get narrowed and slippery, making it more difficult for our concert attendees to get around and find a stage to mosh at. As well, there won't be as many stages. They are slowly being destroyed by the smoke that is billowing in the air. And the trash? Well the park cleaning crew that is usually sweeping up all day long and trying to keep the ground clean are on strike. Gone. No where to be found. |
So imagine that. Think back to our Utopian concert that we had before. Nice and clean. Sun shining. Plenty of space to move in and out, and lots of choices on concert stages and bands to see. Take a nice deep breath in and enjoy this feeling. Now, imagine we have smoked for many years, and every morning begins with a loud, mucousy cough. Our park is going to look a lot different. Hazy and dull, the park will be filthy, with trash littered everywhere. Not being cleaned properly, the paths begin to narrow and become mucky, making it more difficult to traverse. The stages are breaking down, there are fewer of them to go around, and let's face it, the bands are beginning to suck. The music is poor, the venue is deteriorating, and this is causing fewer concert goers to want (or be able to) exchange their passes for signed photos (again, read last post or that will sound galactically stupid).
This is the picture of COPD. Mucoused, narrowed airways that have fewer surfaces for gas exchange and an inability to keep itself clean. Every breath, as the days drag on, gets harder and harder to take. You get winded putting your shirt on sometimes. Now, go reach for that next cigarette. I dare you....
Pulmonary Embolism: The Bus Turneth Over
With the previous two lung problems, we had inherent dysfunction of one or more parts of the lung and thus witnessed what impact this would have on function. Now, let's examine one more. Pulmonary embolism.
This is more commonly known as a "blood clot in your lungs", and can be very dangerous. In fact, that sh#t can kill you. But what is it? How does it effect the function of your lung?
In pulmonary embolism (or P.E.), the problem is not with the lung itself. In fact, these clots tend to occur in the most healthiest of lungs and cause grave consequences. Let's talk about it in terms of our Lolla park. The park is working great. Fans are moving in and out with each breath, security is doing it's job, and the bands are rocking out. Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! Now, we never talked about how the bands actually get to the park. They certainly can't come through the crowds with all their fans, so they must get to the park and their designated stages via roads and pathways that are not part of the park itself. And, if you recall, the bands and stages represent the alveoli and areas for gas exchange, moving oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. So this travel of the bands is actually the representation of the blood that comes in to the lungs from the right heart, and travels back out again (now full of oxygen) to the left heart (also, see my previous post on heart anatomy for a mental refresher).
Great, so bands are coming and going to the stages via the (vascular) roads, and all is going well with our concert venue. And then all of a sudden !BAM! a tour bus overturns and one of the roads gets blocked. No bands in or out. Musical silence to one or several stages. Unhappy concert goers for sure. But, if most of the bands are still able to make it to the park via other roads, the show(s) will go on and the festival will continue.
What would happen if this tour bus turned over on a major highway leading to the left side of the park? Or the right side? Or what about the only highway leading to the entire concert venue?? Total...utter...destruction. No bands, no concert. Festivalis collapsis as they say in Rome. Well, that is what can happen with a pulmonary embolism. A clot (that usually originates in the deep venous system of the legs) fires up through the heart and gets lodged in one of the pulmonary arteries. Now, the size of this artery determines the extent of the damage. Small artery blockage will give pain and maybe some minor breathing difficulties, but most people would recover without issue on the right treatment. However, if the clot is large and blocks off one of the major arteries leading to the lungs, there will be no blood flow for gas exchange, and the circulatory system will soon collapse. Oxygen will not be delivered to the rest of the body (as it is not able to move past the blockage) and there will soon be multi-organ failure. Death is an almost certainty. "Sh#tty buzz" say the hipsters.
So....the lungs. A never-ending concert in our chest. The perfect rhythm of air moving in and out and the blood passing by to supply the rest of our system with life-giving oxygen. A simple yet effective function, but also one that can be altered with dire consequences. Think of this the next time you take a breath. And the next time. And the next time. Go ahead.....I dare you.
Thanks for reading. I think it's time to move on to somewhere else in the body. Should we go below the diaphragm next time?? Stay tuned.....
This is the picture of COPD. Mucoused, narrowed airways that have fewer surfaces for gas exchange and an inability to keep itself clean. Every breath, as the days drag on, gets harder and harder to take. You get winded putting your shirt on sometimes. Now, go reach for that next cigarette. I dare you....
Pulmonary Embolism: The Bus Turneth Over
With the previous two lung problems, we had inherent dysfunction of one or more parts of the lung and thus witnessed what impact this would have on function. Now, let's examine one more. Pulmonary embolism.
This is more commonly known as a "blood clot in your lungs", and can be very dangerous. In fact, that sh#t can kill you. But what is it? How does it effect the function of your lung?
In pulmonary embolism (or P.E.), the problem is not with the lung itself. In fact, these clots tend to occur in the most healthiest of lungs and cause grave consequences. Let's talk about it in terms of our Lolla park. The park is working great. Fans are moving in and out with each breath, security is doing it's job, and the bands are rocking out. Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! Now, we never talked about how the bands actually get to the park. They certainly can't come through the crowds with all their fans, so they must get to the park and their designated stages via roads and pathways that are not part of the park itself. And, if you recall, the bands and stages represent the alveoli and areas for gas exchange, moving oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. So this travel of the bands is actually the representation of the blood that comes in to the lungs from the right heart, and travels back out again (now full of oxygen) to the left heart (also, see my previous post on heart anatomy for a mental refresher).
Great, so bands are coming and going to the stages via the (vascular) roads, and all is going well with our concert venue. And then all of a sudden !BAM! a tour bus overturns and one of the roads gets blocked. No bands in or out. Musical silence to one or several stages. Unhappy concert goers for sure. But, if most of the bands are still able to make it to the park via other roads, the show(s) will go on and the festival will continue.
What would happen if this tour bus turned over on a major highway leading to the left side of the park? Or the right side? Or what about the only highway leading to the entire concert venue?? Total...utter...destruction. No bands, no concert. Festivalis collapsis as they say in Rome. Well, that is what can happen with a pulmonary embolism. A clot (that usually originates in the deep venous system of the legs) fires up through the heart and gets lodged in one of the pulmonary arteries. Now, the size of this artery determines the extent of the damage. Small artery blockage will give pain and maybe some minor breathing difficulties, but most people would recover without issue on the right treatment. However, if the clot is large and blocks off one of the major arteries leading to the lungs, there will be no blood flow for gas exchange, and the circulatory system will soon collapse. Oxygen will not be delivered to the rest of the body (as it is not able to move past the blockage) and there will soon be multi-organ failure. Death is an almost certainty. "Sh#tty buzz" say the hipsters.
So....the lungs. A never-ending concert in our chest. The perfect rhythm of air moving in and out and the blood passing by to supply the rest of our system with life-giving oxygen. A simple yet effective function, but also one that can be altered with dire consequences. Think of this the next time you take a breath. And the next time. And the next time. Go ahead.....I dare you.
Thanks for reading. I think it's time to move on to somewhere else in the body. Should we go below the diaphragm next time?? Stay tuned.....