BIO 255 WEEK 6 Case Study – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Running Head: CASE STUDY – CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) BIO 255 WEEK 6 Case Study – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) How is Venti lation Different from Respiration? Ventilation is very different from respiration. Ventilation is mechanical and involves the movement of air. It is the mechanical drawing in and expelling out air via breathing. Respiration is physiologic and involves the exchange of gases in the alveoli, external respiration, and in the cells, internal respiration. It is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (The Mechanics of Respiration | MedicTests, 2023). Ventilation is Dependent Upon a Pressure Gradient. Describe How this Pressure Gradient Works. Ventilation is definitely upon a pressure gradient. Air, like other fluids, moves from a region of higher pressure to a region of lower pressure. The flow of air into the lungs requires that a pressure gradient between the atmosphere and the alveoli to be established. This driving pressure gradient is accomplished by the contraction of the inspiratory muscles (Osborne, n.d.). What Muscles are Involved in Ventilation? The muscles that are involved in ventilation consist of three groups of respiratory muscles; the diaphragm, the rib cage muscles and the abdominal muscles. Each group acts on the chest wall and its compartments, the lung-apposed rib cage, the diaphragm-apposed rib cage, and the abdomen (Aliverti, 2016). What is COPD and How Does it Affect Ventilation? According to our class text, COPD is defined as a “certain lung disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema) that result in long-term obstruction of airflow and substantially reduced pulmonary ventilation; one of the leading causes of death in old age” (Saladin, 2020). COPD affects ventilation greatly. With COPD, the airways of the lungs, bronchial tubes, become inflamed and narrowed. They tend to collapse when you breathe out and can become clogged with mucus. This reduces airflow through the bronchial tubes, a condition called airway obstruction, making it difficult to move air in and out of the lungs (Healthwise Staff, 2022). How Does the Tripod Position Help Breathing in COPD Patients? The tripod position is sitting down, leaning forward with the arms resting on the knees. While leaning forward at an angle of about 45 degrees, focusing on the movement of air entrance and exit. The tripod position helps the diaphragm move downward to increase the volume in the chest cavity, known as the thoracic cavity. This increased volume might force the lungs to expand. People adopting the tripod position will be able to increase the expulsion of carbon dioxide and the inhalation of oxygen (Lewsley, 2022). References: Aliverti A. (2016). The respiratory muscles during exercise. Breathe (Sheffield, England), 12(2),165–168.