The Mechanics of Expiration and Some Possible Failures

By: Nick Izzo

Hey folks, today, if you’re interested, you will read about what happens when you breathe out, also known as expiration, as well as some possible mechanical failures that can occur in pulmonary ventilation, breathing. I recently gained this knowledge on what occurs in the body during these failures and expiration in my foundations of kinesiology class with Dr. Pontifax.

Before you exhale it’d probably be wise to inhale. Inhalation is a process within itself that you can find in a blog below this one called Anatomy of the Respiratory System. But during exhalation, your diaphragm is relaxing. Your thorax, between the neck and the abdomen, and your lungs normally resist stretching and will then recoil when the distending force decreases. So this is what happens when the diaphragm relaxes, the tension in the thorax and lungs causes a recoil. More obviously though, the volume of your lungs decreases which then results in the pressure inside your lungs to exceed atmospheric pressure. The end goal is for your body to match the pressure of the atmosphere. This is why breathing changes at different elevations depending on how much oxygen is available.

Here’s breathing explained a little simpler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSEzg6TBheY

Mechanical mishaps can also occur with breathing. There are some factors that lay within the body such as infections, allergic reactions, and breathing disorders. There are also external factors which is what you will find in this blog including trauma and foreign body airway obstruction. One external factor that can effect breathing is pneumothorax. This occurs when air leaks from the lung into the chest cavity. This is usually the result of blunt force trauma and can then turn into a collapsed lung. Similar to pneumothorax there is also open pneumothorax. This is when an open wound allows air to enter the pleural cavity, a fluid filled space between the chest and lungs, and not into the lungs. This causes major difficulty in breathing. Then there is hemothorax. This occurs when blood leaks into the pleural cavity. Again, it is the result of blunt trauma and again can result in a collapsed lung.

Breathing is a grand old thing, quite essential to life many would say. Much more happens than what the naked eye can see. It’s also very important to avoid a blunt trauma force, if that wasn’t obvious enough, due to the possible consequences if one does occur.

References:

Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaa1W1sfZ3xsMFUG3u6IsLg. "How Do We Breathe Animation - How Do The Lungs Work Video - Respiratory System: Process of Breathing." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Nov. 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

“MSU- KIN 173 – Foundations of Kinesiology – Spring 2017”. Education.msu.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

The Difference Between Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology

by Emily Goltz

Kinesiology and exercise physiology both have many similarities and differences. First off, both kinesiology and physiology have to do with human anatomy and the study of the body in one way or another. They both deal with nutrition and biomechanics. For both, you need to get a masters, bachelors, or a doctorate. Another big factor is it has to do with exercise testing and the physiology of exercise.

Kinesiology is the study of human movement, function and performance and its effects on human health. It applies to sports, fitness, and therapeutic intervention. Many times, the main reason students study kinesiology is to go into orthopedics, rehabilitation, physical therapy or orthopedic therapy. They evaluate injuries, develop programs, have fitness assessments, and i Guidelines.njury-prevention programs.

Exercise physiology is more of the study of human responses, adaption to exercise, and underlying mechanisms responsible for the effects on human health. Physiology is there for health promotion and fitness development and to improve athletes and/ or recovery. They are concerned with the body's  physiological response to exercise in the promotion of health. Different to kinesiology, physiology has to do with the reduction of risk to chronic diseases like obesity and heart disease.

"ACSM Body Fat Guidelines". LIVE STRONG.com. Leaf Group. June 06, 2015.

"Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology". Hanover College,January 29, 2017.

Anatomy of the Respiratory System

By Regan Tarrow

   Hello, I am going to do a blog post about the respiratory system. We currently learned about the respiratory system in my foundations of kinesiology class with Dr. Pontifex. It was really interesting to me because it is really important to the anatomy of the body. I will be talking about the respiratory cycle and everything that it contributes to our health.

   Some of the major things that the respiratory system is involved in is the heating and cooling of the body, filtering inspired air to protect against microorganisms, modulates the circulating levels of carbon dioxide, and the movement of air past vocal folds that make sound and speech. All of these are really important to our health, without them we wouldn't be in control of our body temperature or even the protection of microorganisms.

    3 stages of the respiratory cycle are pulmonary ventilation, external respiration, and internal respiration. Pulmonary ventilation is the exchange of gases between lungs and external enviroment. External respiration is the exchange of gases between the lungs and the blood stream. Lastly, the internal respiration is functioned in the exchange of gases between the blood stream and bodily tissues. All of the structures that make up the airway and allow us to breath is primarily what the respiratory system is all about. 

   The respiratory system can be divided into two separate zones. The conduction zone that consists of all the respiratory passageways, and the respiratory zone that is home to where gases are exchanged. All the major components that are involved in these two zones are the nasal cavity, lungs, pharynx, oral cavity, larynx, trachea, bronchi, pleura, and the alveoli. Nasal cavity and oral cavity mainly consists of the passageway of respiration through the nose and the mouth. The pharynx is resembled as the throat that aides in the swallowing of air. The larynx represents only a small section of the respiratory tract. It connects the laryngopharynx to the trachea. The lungs are paired, right and left. The bronchi is the lower end of the trachea. Pleura are where the lungs are enclosed by membranes. Lastly, the alveoli are small inflatable sacs at the end of bronchioles.

Overall, this was primarily the main points that I learned about the respiratory system in class. The respiratory system is very complex because of all the zones, stages, and components that make it all up. I really enjoyed learning this in class because I find it really interesting that all the breathing that we do every day goes through all of these processes that we are so unaware of.

References:
"MSU - KIN173 - Foundations Of Kinesiology - Spring 2017". Education.msu.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
Anatomy Of The Respiratory System. Adrenalfatiguesystem.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

Basic Cardiac Anatomy

By: J.T. Lenga

Hello, readers, my first blog post will be about the anatomy of the heart. This is something I learned in my Foundations of Kinesiology lecture. The professor, Dr. Pontifax, spent a few periods on this subject. He went over everything from the structure of the heart to how it beats. However, I will be sharing only the basics with you, specifically, the circulation of the blood flow.

To begin, the heart is a pump for the body whose main function is to pump oxygenated blood through the body.  The heart is the size of a fist and is the hardest working organ in the body.  The heart is located in the center of the chest between the lungs. The heart has four chambers.  It is divided into a left and right side by a septum, and both sides are divided into an atrium and a ventricle. The two atria act as collecting reservoirs, while the two ventricles act as pumps. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs, while the left ventricle pumps blood to the rest of the body. The process of the chambers contracting is simultaneous. The atria will contract first and after a slight delay, the ventricles will contract. Blood is first drained into the atria via the veins. The ventricles pump the blood and send it to the rest of the body via the arteries. Blood that is collected in the right atrium will be drained into the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. Valves in the heart work to prevent the blood from flowing back into the atrium. The blood then enters the right ventricle and contracts, pumping the blood through the pulmonary valve and through the arteries to the lungs. Once the blood receives oxygen from the lungs, the blood is sent back to the heart through the veins into the left atrium. The left atrium drains the blood into the right ventricle through the bicuspid valve. The left ventricle contracts, pumping the blood through the aortic valve and through the arteries to the rest of the body. This is the basics on how the heart circulates the blood throughout our body. Below is a short video that shows the heart in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdZVt1vBlQ

I found these lectures to be particularly interesting. The body is a very complex thing to learn about. Particularly when learning about one of its most vital organs, like the heart. What I found most interesting about the heart was how the blood flows through it. It's a complex system that has been carefully engineered over many years through evolution that now seems so simple. It's amazing how everything in our body comes together so perfectly.  It really is a well-structured machine. I wonder how our cardiac anatomy differs from the anatomy of other species?  Perhaps this is a topic for my next blog post.

References

"Anatomy Of The Heart - Texas Heart Institute Heart Information Center". Texasheart.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

"Circulatory System 3D". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

"MSU - KIN173 - Foundations Of Kinesiology - Spring 2017". Education.msu.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

Prompt 9: The Importance of Physical Therapy

By: Nick Izzo

Kinesiology is a very broad generalization of many possible fields. An undergraduate degree in kinesiology opens up many opportunities in one's future. Everything from a running shoe sales person to a physical therapist can be achieved through a kinesiology undergraduate degree. Physical therapy specifically is a booming field because of the aging baby boomers.

As most of us know, as age increases so does blood pressure therefore so does the chance of a stroke or heart attack. After a stroke, the patient normally experiences a lack of mobility and through physical therapy, they can regain some of that over time. After they regain some of their mobility they can once again become more independent and don’t need a nurse to do simple tasks like getting out of bed and going to the bathroom. This is a reassurance to the patient that they haven’t lost all of their freedom which is psychologically uplifting as well. Along with age also comes the lack of ability to move. Physical therapy can help reduce pain by stimulating lost muscle and joint function that has occurred over the years. Physical therapy can also prevent surgery. I have personally experienced this when I had myositis ossificans in my right thigh. Myositis ossificans is basically a very deep bruise on the bone that swells and causes immobilization due to the calcification of the blood in that swelled location. But through physical therapy, I was able to eliminate the swelling and regain the movement in my leg. Physical therapy is also very popular in the sports world. Many knee injuries are treated with physical therapy after surgery to regain movement and strength.

Physical therapy is a subcategory to the very broad study of kinesiology and it’s one of the most important. Without physical therapy regaining strength, mobility, even independence in some cases, would be very difficult. This occupation has helped many people and will continue to help people.

References

Gilbert, Ben. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017. https://www.burke.org/blog/2015/10/10-reasons-why-physical-therapy-is-beneficial/58