Compromise of the mechanism of breathing

Compromise of the mechanism of breathing
Introduction
The respiratory system is very important because we breathe in and out contaminated air every day. This makes us more likely to get sick, especially if our immune systems aren’t working well. For example, people with HIV can get pneumocystis pneumonia and lobar pneumonia. Since children’s immune systems are still growing, both young and old people have weaker immune systems. This makes it harder for people of different ages to breathe in different ways.

Breathing systems in babies aren’t working right.

Due to changes in the surroundings, the need for oxygen goes up after birth. Hypoxia in the first two to three weeks of life will cause hyperventilation because the body needs to take in more air. Hypoxia can also be caused by illness, a blocked airway, or heart problems that were present at birth.

Hypothermia can cause the body to use more oxygen, narrow the blood vessels in the lungs to keep more heat in, and make less surfactant, which is needed to keep the alveoli open. And in babies, cold stress can make the already low amount of surfactant go down even more, which can lead to breathing problems. Newborns, on the other hand, are more likely to lose heat through radiation, conduction, and convection, which can further damage the breathing system. (Foglia et al.).

Meconium intake syndrome can happen when the baby is still in the womb, and the baby may have trouble breathing. During gasps, the baby might breathe in the meconium that is in the amniotic fluid. This can cause a mismatch between ventilation and perfusion because of the mechanical blockage of the airway. It can also lead to an infection, which can worsen respiratory distress.

Breakdown of breathing systems in young children

Young children need more air than adults, so their breathing rates are faster than those of adults. So, a small change in the amount of oxygen in the surroundings could hurt their breathing systems.

The amount that the chest moves outward is low in young children. This makes the effective residual capacity of the lungs lower, since it depends on the outward recoil. But laryngeal breaking during expiration and active diaphragmatic and intercostal expiratory tone keep the decreased functional residual capacity from getting too bad. (Buu, 2017).

Older people’s breathing systems aren’t as good as they used to be.

Changes in the bones and muscles in the chest and back have a big effect on how old people breathe. As a person ages, the bones in their rib cage get smaller. This changes how the lungs curve and look. This makes it harder for the lungs to expand and contract during breathing, which lowers the amount of oxygen in the body and makes them more likely to get respiratory illnesses.

Also, the lung tissues may change in a way that makes it hard for the tissues around the lungs to keep them open. They may close quickly, making them more likely to have trouble breathing. The alveoli may also become loose. All of these things can cause air to get stuck, which can make it hard for older people to breathe. (Verissimo et al., 2015)

There is also a weaker cough because the muscles are weaker and the mucociliary system isn’t working as well. A weaker cough makes it hard to clear the airways.

Conclusion

Physiological changes happen to the respiratory system as we age. Because of this, people of different ages may show their protection to respiratory diseases in different ways.

References

Buu, M. C. (2017). Respiratory complications, management, and treatments for the neuromuscular disease in children. Current opinion in pediatrics, 29(3), 326-333.

Foglia, E. E., Langeveld, R., Heimall, L., Deveney, A., Ades, A., Jensen, E. A., & Nadkarni, V. M. (2017). Incidence, characteristics, and survival following cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the quaternary neonatal intensive care unit. Resuscitation, 110, 32-36.

Verissimo, P., Timenetsky, K. T., Casalaspo, T. J. A., Gonçalves, L. H. R., Yang, A. S. Y., & Eid, R. C. (2015). High prevalence of respiratory muscle weakness in hospitalized acute heart failure in elderly patients. PLOS One, 10(2), e0118218.

OTHERS:

Related Posts: