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Lecture

Respiratory Analysis: Normal Breathing

Related concepts (23)

Hypercapnia

Hypercapnia (from the Greek hyper = "above" or "too much" and kapnos = "smoke"), also known as hypercarbia and CO2 retention, is a condition of abnormally elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the blood. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs. Carbon dioxide may accumulate in any condition that causes hypoventilation, a reduction of alveolar ventilation (the clearance of air from the small sacs of the lung where gas exchange takes place) as well as resulting from inhalation of CO2.

Obligate nasal breathing

Obligate nasal breathing describes a physiological necessity to breathe through the nose (or other forms of external nasal passages, depending on the species) as opposed to breathing through the mouth. The term may be misleading, as it implies that the organism has no choice but to breathe through its nose; however, it is also used to describe cases where effective breathing through the mouth is possible but not preferred. Alternatively, the term has been defined by some as the ability to breathe through the nose while swallowing.

Tachypnea

Tachypnea, also spelt tachypnoea, is a respiratory rate greater than normal, resulting in abnormally rapid and shallow breathing. In adult humans at rest, any respiratory rate of 1220 per minute is considered clinically normal, with tachypnea being any rate above that. Children have significantly higher resting ventilatory rates, which decline rapidly during the first three years of life and then steadily until around 18 years. Tachypnea can be an early indicator of pneumonia and other lung diseases in children, and is often an outcome of a brain injury.