Fantastic Voyage

Everyone board the mini-sub! Lora has a bacterium that is invading the lower lobe of her right lung. We must go now! We must destroy this bacterium before it makes her sick! We cannot let that happen to her Lora. As of right now, we are entering the right femoral vein, close to the groin. The right femoral vein is parallel with the femoral artery through the upper thigh and pelvic region. It is one of the larger veins in the body. The femoral vein returns blood into the leg to the heart through the iliac vein. The right femoral vein comes from the abdomen. This vein collects blood from many veins in the body such as the hepatic, lumbar, gonadal, renal, and phrenic. We then go through the inguinal ligament. The inguinal ligament protects the tissue movement between the trunk and the lower extremities. It then continues as the right external iliac which comes together to the inferior vena cava, also known as the posterior vena cava. It is a vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the lower body to the heart. From there, the inferior vena cava leads to the right atrium of the heart. The right atrium is only one of the four hollow chambers of the heart.

It receives blood from the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. The blood that comes through these veins is low in oxygen. After passing through the right atrium, we pass through the right atrioventricular (AV) valve, also called the tricuspid valve, and then we shall go through the right ventricle, the lower right-hand chamber of the heart that pumps blood from the right atrium into the pulmonary arteries then to the lungs, to the pulmonary valve, or the pulmonary semilunar valve. The valves of the pulmonary semilunar valve open when the right ventricle contracts. When the muscles relax, blood goes to the pulmonary trunk which then the valve closes to prevent the blood from returning to the right ventricle. Before we go through the pulmonary semilunar valve, the wall right here is the interventricular septum. It separates the lower chambers, or the ventricles, of the heart. After that, we will go through the pulmonary trunk to get to the right pulmonary artery which sends blood from the heart to the lungs. The right pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the right lung, into all 3 of the lobes. The pulmonary trunk divides into the right and left pulmonary arteries.

The right pulmonary artery curves to the right, behind the aorta, and divides into two branches at the root of the right lung. Now that we are in the right lung, we must go to the lower lobe. In the right lung, there are three lobes, the superior, middle, and inferior. It is divided into three lobes by two interlobular fissures, a transverse fissure, and an oblique fissure. The superior and middle lobe are separated by a transverse fissure and the middle and inferior lobe are separated by an oblique fissure. The left lung and right lung are not the same though. As you see, the right lung has only three lobes, as the left lung has two. They are different in size as the left lung is smaller than the right. The reasoning for this is because your heart sets in between the lungs so the heart uses some of the space that your left lung is. The function of the lungs is pulmonary ventilation or breathing. Air is inhaled through your nostrils which pass through your trachea and enters the bronchi. Bronchi are two tubes that carry air to the lungs. Bronchioles are smaller branches of bronchi that split off. Bronchioles divide into even smaller structures to form respiratory bronchioles which lead to the alveolar ducts. Then there are air sacs called alveoli. They are the basic functional units of the lungs and have simple squamous epithelial cells. Alveoli cover about 60-70m. Oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide from the bloodstream by microscopic structures of the lungs called alveoli. Pleura protects the lungs with a fluid cushioning system. Pleura are a membrane that lines the lung and the wall of the chest cavity.

The fluid serves as a lubricant to allow for a smooth movement of the lungs within the chest cavity. Pleura are a place for the development of mesothelioma. Your body fights bacteria by using our immune system. Everyone has an immune system, whether it is a high or low immune system. There are two types of immunity, nonspecific and specific. Nonspecific immunity allows protection against a variety of things rather than protection from certain kinds of bad or invading cells or chemicals. There are many types of nonspecific immune defenses in your body. Skin and mucous membranes are nonspecific mechanical barriers that do not allow bacteria and other substances into the body. Tears and mucus are also nonspecific immunity. Phagocytosis of bacteria by white blood cells, or WBCs, is a nonspecific form of immunity. Changes in heat, redness, pain, and swelling help phagocytic WBCs get to the area of the infection and enter the affected tissue. Specific immunity protects against certain types of invading bacteria or other toxic materials that enter the body or affect the body in a harmful way.

The respiratory system filters warm and humidifies the air we breathe which keeps some bacteria out of our bodies so it does not make us sick or ill. When the germs of pneumonia reach the lungs, the alveoli inflame and fill up with fluid and pus. When someone has pneumonia, oxygen has trouble reaching your blood. When only a little bit of oxygen gets in your blood, body cells do not work correctly. Lobar pneumonia affects a lobe of the lung. It can affect one or both, the right or left. Bronchial pneumonia or bronchopneumonia affects parts of both lungs. When toxins enter the blood, they mess up your body’s homeostasis. The body notices then get rid of the toxins by using the urinary system. To get rid of it, the person urinates and the toxins and other nasty things in the blood come out which restores homeostasis to the normal body functions. Now take that infection. How does that penicillin work for you? It is gone and it will not be coming back. If it does, it will not be as bad if it were to infect her. Thank you everyone for helping me save Lora from getting sick. Hope you enjoyed the voyage. I sure did. I hope you learned something from this and enjoyed the experience.

Reference

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