Related topics: cystic fibrosis
Lung
hideThe lung or pulmonary system is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart. Their principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. This exchange of gases is accomplished in the mosaic of specialized cells that form millions of tiny, exceptionally thin-walled air sacs called alveoli.
In order to completely explain the anatomy of the lungs, it is necessary to discuss the passage of air through the mouth to the alveoli. Once air progresses through the mouth or nose, it travels through the oropharynx, nasopharynx, the larynx, the trachea, and a progressively subdividing system of bronchi and bronchioles until it finally reaches the alveoli where the gas exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen takes place.
The drawing and expulsion of air (ventilation) is driven by muscular action; in early tetrapods, air was driven into the lungs by the pharyngeal muscles, whereas in reptiles, birds and mammals a more complicated musculoskeletal system is used.
Medical terms related to the lung often begin with pulmo-, from the Latin pulmonarius ("of the lungs"), or with pneumo- (from Greek πνεύμων "lung")
For more information about Lung, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with lung
Molecular pathways linked to sex, age affect outcomes in lung cancer
14 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
The biology of lung cancer differs from one patient to the next, depending on age and sex, according to scientists at Duke University Medical Center. The findings may help explain why certain groups of patients do better ...
Adapting to clogged airways makes common pathogen resist powerful antibiotics
23 hours ago |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
|
(PhysOrg.com) -- Certain bacteria cause chronic lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis. Surviving in this oxygen-poor, nitrate-rich environment makes the bacteria less susceptible to antibiotics.
Tests showing smokers their individual risk of future disease will help them quit, says paper
Feb 04, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
Giving smokers information about their own individual risk of serious illness helps motivate them to quit smoking, according to a paper published in the current issue of Postgraduate Medical Journal.
Test could predict which idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients will become severely ill
Feb 03, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
A simple blood test could predict which patients with the lung-scarring disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are soon to get far worse, an indicator that could one day influence their treatment, according ...
Experimental stem cell treatment arrests acute lung injury in mice
Feb 03, 2010 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Stem cell researchers exploring a new approach for the care of respiratory diseases report that an experimental treatment involving transplantable lung cells was associated with improved outcomes in tests ...
New potential to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Jan 27, 2010 |
4 / 5 (2) |
0
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined by emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis. It destroys the normal architecture of the lung and inhibits the mechanical aspects of breathing, which prevents necessary gas ...
Sniffing out lung cancer at early stages
Jan 27, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
New animal research from scientists at the Monell Center and collaborators demonstrates that body fluid odors can be used to identify animals with lung cancer tumors. The findings set the stage for studies to identify potential ...
Lung cancer patients who quit smoking double their survival chances
Jan 21, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
People diagnosed with early stage lung cancer can double their chances of survival over five years if they stop smoking compared with those who continue to smoke, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today.
Highlight: When the smoke clears: Molecular link between tobacco carcinogen and cancer
Jan 20, 2010 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
A team of researchers, led by Yi-Ching Wang, at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, Republic of China, has uncovered a potential mechanism by which the tobacco-specific carcinogen NNK promotes lung tumor formation and ...
Combination therapy may be effective against some non-small cell lung cancers
Jan 19, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
Even when their tumors are shrinking in response to therapy, some non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have a scattering of cancer cells that are undeterred by the drug, causing the tumor to resume ...
Tobacco smoke causes lung inflammation, promotes lung cancer growth
Jan 19, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse, and one reason is that it steps up inflammation in the lung. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that mice with ...
Childhood harms can lead to lung cancer
Jan 18, 2010 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Adverse events in childhood have been linked to an increase in the likelihood of developing lung cancer in later life. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health describe how the link is partly explai ...
Three esophageal cancer cell lines commonly used in research prove to be from other cancers
Jan 14, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
Three frequently used human esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines used for research were confirmed as being from other tumor types, according to a brief communication published online January 14 in the Journal of the National Ca ...
Ancient Volcanic Eruptions Still Taking Lives
Jan 13, 2010 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
6
|
(PhysOrg.com) -- A cancer epidemic under way in southeast China may have been initiated by a string of Siberian volcanoes that spewed ash across the Earth 250 million years ago, according to a study published ...
Novel growth pattern classification predictive of outcome in non-small cell lung cancer
Jan 13, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
Classifying non-small cell lung tumors by growth patterns had a strong predictive value for measures of survival.
