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ly and caried I Can\'t Stop Coughing: A Case Study on the Respiratory System is

ID: 268112 • Letter: L

Question

ly and caried I Can't Stop Coughing: A Case Study on the Respiratory System is sitting in his athletic training suite feeling sorry for himself. He moved from e California to play soccer at Northern Minnesota University (NMU) as a highly recruited recovered, but breath any time he worse as the weather has become colder. To make things worse, Mike feels, and looks, player. All was well until he got sick with a miserable cold. He soon now he finds himself with a lingering dry cough and difficulty catching his exerts himself, which is every day! He also notices it has gotten like he' s out of shape, so his coach has been criticizing him for dogging it. A few days later thi , Mike relays his story to JP, the head athletic trainer at NMU. "I'm nking my cold is coming back, or something else is wrong with me. When I'm just hanging out, like coughing." JP l abnormal. So he tells Mike to come back as soon as the symptoms return practice. Twenty minutes later, Mike is back in the athletic training suite, audibly wheezing, coughing, and short of breath. The team physician, Dr. Mclnnis, happens to be there and performs a complete physical exam. He also does pulmonary function tests with Mike using spirometry, including a forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). He instructs Mike to take a maximal inhalation and then exhale as forcefully and maximally as possible into the spirometer. now, I feel fine. But as soon as I start to run I get winded and can't stop istens to Mike's breathing sounds with his stethoscope, but hears nothing during soccer Based on his findings, Dr. McInnis tells Mike he thinks he is experiencing bronchoconstriction (also called cold-induced asthma), which is made worse by exertion. The doctor explains to Mike that his recent upper respiratory infection probably inflamed his airways, making them hypersensitive and reactive to irritants, such as cold and physical exertion. When Mike exercises in the cold, autumn afternoons of Minnesota, his cold-induced sensitive airways temporarily bronchoconstrict, causing the symptoms he is experiencing. Asthma is almost always a reversible condition. Dr. McInnis prescribes two puffs of an albuterol inhaler, to be used 10 minutes before a bout of exercise in the cold. lanks. Short Answer Questions: tems make cular syste Describe the relationship between intrapulmonary pressure, atmospheric pressure, and air flow during normal inspiration and expiration, referring to Boyle's law. . apillaries s: the ( ystem, th (4) to r to e bloodst nours 2. Resistance varies in Mike's conducting airways. Using your understanding of respiratory anatomy, explain where in his airway the resistance is highest and why

Explanation / Answer

Answer1.

Boyle’s law states that at a constant temperature, the pressure of given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to the volume occupied by the gas.

During inspiration/inhalation, when air flows into the lungs, volume increase which results in decreased intrapulmonary pressure compared to atmospheric pressure. While, as air leaves the lungs, intrapulmonary pressure tries to equilibrate with the atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure may tend to be lower than intrapulmonary pressure.

Answer2.

Based on the understanding, Mike’s resistance could be highest in medium-sized bronchioles. Airflow in lungs is turbulent under normal conditions, so resistant dependant on the flow rate will be highest in 1st and 2nd bronchi.

Terminal bronchioles arising from branched airway and arranged in parallel adds resistance reciprocally and use diffusion to drive gas movement. At this point, resistance is lost.