The Respiratory System

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The respiratory system is a vital factor of gas exchange due to its structure. The structure provides an efficiency to the process due gas exchange requiring an efficient system. Gas exchange requires an efficient system because it is a process through which blood circulates around the body, collects oxygen, delivers the oxygen to the organs that require it and releases carbon dioxide. Oxygen enters the body, and carbon dioxide exits the body in opposite the direction. Gas exchange occurs across a respiratory surface area that supplies enough oxygen to allow the process to occur efficiently. The process begins when gases from the atmosphere, including oxygen, enter the body through either the nasal cavity, or the oral cavity. Afterwards, the …show more content…
Red blood cells, or erythrocytes, production of bone marrow, can be found abundantly. Approximately 20 trillion can be found in the circulation fluid, blood, throughout the body. Inside the red blood cells there are red pigments called haemoglobin, an oxygen binding protein. Since red blood cell has no nucleus, all of the space is packed entirely with the pigment protein known as haemoglobin, each with approximately 270 millions molecules of haemoglobin, enzymes and chemicals that contribute in to deliver an efficient and a higher volume of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Red blood cells have a regular biconcave disk like shape maintained by internal scaffolding of protein fibres called cytoskeleton. This particular structure of cells provides a large enough volume and surface area to load and unload oxygen more efficiently and rapidly. Due to the flexible and smooth elastic membrane, red blood cells can distort and squeeze through the narrow vascular lumens more easily. Oxygen is transported to the body tissues in two forms: either combined with molecule of haemoglobin, and travels in the form of oxyhemoglobin or in a dissolved form in the plasma. Every 100 ml of oxygen rich blood contained with about 20 ml of oxygen from which 19.7 ml is transported to all the body tissues by haemoglobin, and the remaining 0.3 is dissolved in plasma. Haemoglobin is of vital importance in replenishing all the body tissues with a rich supply of oxygen; its main responsibility is to deliver oxygen from the lungs to all of the body tissues and carbon dioxide from muscles to the lungs. Haemoglobin, with molecular mass of about 64500 kilodaltons, is a large conjugated and globular protein in red blood cells. Each molecule of haemoglobin is composed of four polypeptide chains, 2 alpha and 2 beta, each tightly associated with a prosthetic group (non-protein) of haem in its centre. Each central haem group

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