Respiratory system breathing mechanics

Horsfield, K. (1986). Morphometry of airways. In The respiratory system Section 3. Mechanics of Breathing, Part 1vol. Ill (P.T. Macklem and J. Mead, Eds.), pp. 75-88. American Physio logical Society, Bethesda, Maryland. 

Inhaled gaseous compounds are absorbed in all parts of the respiratory system whereas particle size determines how deep into the airways the parti cles will he transported in the airstrearn. Shortness of breath is a typical sign of a chemical exposure that has affected the lungs, and it may be evoked through iminunological mechanisms (e.g., formaldehyde, ethyleneoxide), or through toxic irritation (formaldehyde, isocyanates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, Frequently the mechanism depends on the concentration ol the com... 

In order to understand diseases of the respiratory system and how they can be treated, it is necessary to have an overview of the normal function of the respiratory system that is the structures involved, the mechanism of breathing and gas exchange and the control and variation of breathing rate. Air must be able to get in and out of the lungs efficiently and gas exchange must be adequate. Any condition that interferes with these processes will cause disease. 

In response to these activation stimuli, action potentials are conducted towards the central nervous system, where they may elicit reflex responses in respiratory pattern (e.g. rapid, shallow breathing), or alterations in pulmonary mechanics. As the action potentials, on their way to the central nervous system, pass the terminal ramifications of axon dendrites, antidromic conduction occurs and signals are propagated toward peripheral nerve... 

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