Your Respiratory System isn’t a system that your body can do without.
All systems work together, and your Respiratory System is no exception. Your Respiratory System is working closely with your:
Since it oxygenates the body, it really connects to every cell. But, how DOES your Respiratory System work and function?
This post will help you understand some of the stress that may show up on your Respiratory Dial with your bioresonance testing report, and help you understand how your Respiratory System works.
The term “respiratory system” might remind you of biology lessons at school, where you learned about the lungs and the process of breathing. Lungs are a main point that can be stressed on the Respiratory Dial within your CBH Energetics results, along with sinuses. We think of sinuses as part of the Respiratory System, but for bioenergetic testing purposes, we link them to the Lymph System. If you have ever suffered with a nose that drips like a tap when you have a winter cold or flu, you understand how the term drainage applies to the sinuses!
Even though the lungs are the main organs of your Respiratory System, it is much more than these gas exchange organs. It’s an intricate network between the lungs and tissues, all working together to ensure your body receives the oxygen it needs while eliminating the carbon dioxide it doesn’t.
CBH Energetics wants you to understand the mechanisms of your body, so you can better recognize when something isn’t right and take appropriate steps to maintain your well-being.
And yes, we hope one step you will consider is bioresonance testing!
The Role of the Respiratory System in Your Body
So, what exactly does your Respiratory System do? To put it simply, it provides respiration. Without your Respiratory System, your cells would quickly die from lack of oxygen, leading to catastrophic failure across your entire body.
Every time you inhale, you’re bringing oxygen into your lungs. This oxygen is then absorbed into your bloodstream, where it’s transported to your cells. This is just one process of Cellular Metabolism.
Simultaneously, as your cells use the oxygen to produce energy, they produce carbon dioxide as a waste product. This carbon dioxide is carried back to your lungs by your bloodstream, where it’s expelled from your body when you exhale.
However, the role of your Respiratory System isn’t limited to gas exchange only.
It also:
- Helps regulate the pH of your blood.
- Enables vocalization.
- Plays a part in your body’s immune defense, by trapping harmful particles in mucus and expelling them from your body.
Your lungs and your Respiratory System are a pathway of elimination to remove toxins.
Anatomy of Your Respiratory System
Your Respiratory System is composed of several key components, including:
- The nose and nasal cavity
- The pharynx
- Larynx
- Trachea
- Bronchi
- Lungs
Each of these structures plays a unique role in the process of respiration.
Your nose and nasal cavity are the primary entry points for air. They warm, moisten, and filter the air before it travels down through the pharynx (throat) and then the larynx (voice box). The larynx houses your vocal cords and also acts as a protective gate, preventing food and drink from entering your airway when you swallow.
The nose and nasal cavity are also primary entry points for mold and mycotoxins. Some people have used our bioenergetic testing, because they feel that they struggle with MARCoNS. MARCoNS has been debated in the medical community and it stands for multiple antibiotic resistant coagulase negative staph. The bacteria involved is, yes, a strain of staphylococcus.
From the larynx, air moves into the trachea (windpipe), which splits into two bronchi, each leading to one of your lungs. Your lungs are further divided into smaller branches called bronchioles, which end in tiny air sacs known as alveoli. It’s in these alveoli that the critical exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs.
How Does Your Respiratory System Work?
We all breathe.
Breathing, also known as ventilation, is divided into two phases: inhalation and exhalation. During inhalation, your diaphragm and intercostal muscles contract, increasing the volume of your thoracic cavity. This creates a lower pressure inside your lungs compared to the outside air, causing air to be drawn into your lungs.
In the phase of exhalation, your diaphragm and intercostal muscles relax, reducing the volume of your thoracic cavity. The pressure inside your lungs then becomes higher than the outside air, causing the air to be pushed out of your lungs. This cycle of inhalation and exhalation is repeated over and over, approximately 12 to 20 times per minute in a resting adult.
Gas exchange, on the other hand, takes place in the alveoli. Oxygen from the inhaled air diffuses across the thin walls of the alveoli into your bloodstream, while carbon dioxide in your blood diffuses out into the alveoli to be exhaled.
Breathing is a process that we often take for granted, as it happens automatically, without us having to consciously control it. This is under the power of the Nervous System, specifically the autonomic nervous system, or the ANS.
On our CBH Energetics bioenergetic test called the Full Scan, you may see a point on the first page that is called the Central and Peripheral Nervous System, or the CNS. The autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system, and it regulates things that are involuntary in the body:
- Respiration
- Blood pressure
- Digestion
- Heart rate
The ANS even regulates sexual arousal (1).
Breathing happens automatically. When you inhale, your diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle at the base of your lungs, contracts and moves downward. This increases the space in your chest cavity, creating a sort of vacuum that pulls air into your lungs. At the same time, your rib muscles also contract, lifting the ribs upward and outward, further increasing the space in your chest.
Fun Lymph Fact: the process of breathing supports your Lymph System! Diaphragmatic breathing is called the thoraco-abdominal pump, and this creates a pressure variation between the thoracic and abdominal cavities and this moves blood and lymph moving towards the heart (2). If you have done a consultation with us, you may have received a breathing exercise or two!
Once the air enters your lungs, it travels down your bronchi and bronchioles until it reaches the alveoli. Here, oxygen in the air diffuses through the thin walls of the alveoli and into the tiny blood vessels, known as capillaries, surrounding them. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste product of cellular respiration, diffuses out of the capillaries and into the alveoli.
Exhalation is essentially the reverse process. Your diaphragm and rib muscles relax, decreasing the space in your chest and creating a pressure that pushes air out of your lungs. As the carbon dioxide-filled air leaves your lungs and exits your body, the cycle of breathing continues.
The Exchange of Gases: Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide
At the heart of how your Respiratory System works is the exchange of gasses – specifically, oxygen and carbon dioxide – between your lungs and your bloodstream. This process is known as gas exchange.
In the alveoli, oxygen from the inhaled air diffuses across the thin walls into the capillaries. The oxygen then binds to hemoglobin, a protein in your red blood cells, part of The Blood System on our bioresonance testing, which transports the oxygen to your cells throughout the body. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste product of cellular metabolism, diffuses from your blood into the alveoli and is expelled from your body when you exhale.
This exchange of gasses is made possible by differences in pressure – or concentration gradients – between the oxygen and carbon dioxide in your lungs and blood. The process is efficient, ensuring that your body’s cells receive the oxygen they need to function and that waste carbon dioxide is removed.
How the Respiratory System Works: Common Issues
Conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia, can impair your respiratory system’s function, leading to difficulty breathing and other symptoms.
Asthma is characterized by inflammation and narrowing of the airways, causing episodes of wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. COPD, which includes conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is marked by long-term damage to the lungs that makes it hard to breathe.
Pneumonia is an infection (we see mycoplasma pneumoniae, streptococcus and klebsiella energetically resonate on our Toxin Section). This process inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.
Top Takeaways for a Healthier Respiratory System
When you think about the health of your Respiratory System, what comes to mind? Cough, colds and flu through the winter time? Bacteria and viruses are common causes of these things. You might see some come up under the energetic toxins that affect the Respiratory System on your report.
Let’s take that common cold. Respiratory infections start with bacteria or viruses that cause sinus congestion, coughing and headache, which we are all familiar with.
Common bacteria examples include:
- Aerobacter
- Streptococcus pyogenes and pneumoniae (3)
- Eikenella
- Enterobacter
- Mycoplasma
So many toxins affect the Respiratory System because many can make their way into our air supply.
Common chemical examples include:
- Acetone
- Asbestos
- Benzene (one of the most widely used chemicals)
- Hexachlorophene
- Paraffin (candles and crayons)
Common heavy metals include:
- Bismuth
- Cerium (self cleaning ovens)
- Europium
- Lanthanum
- Titanium
Many molds and mycotoxins cause respiratory issues, among other burdens on the body.
- Alternaria (cereal grains, like wheat, barley, rice, oats)
- Aspergillus (common outdoor mold, may also affect bread)
- Candida
- Fusarium
- Ochratoxin (coffee)
- Stachybotrys
Even parasites cause respiratory problems:
- Babesia
- Dirofilaria
- Echinococcus
- Filaria
- Plasmodium
Lastly, common viruses include:
- Adenovirus
- Species of coronavirus
- ECHO virus
- Influenza
- Parvovirus (pets too!)
- H1N1
What’s at the base of health in ALL systems? Healthy habits and avoiding risk factors that could harm those systems, as best we can considering we are consistently working towards creating balanced health.
One of the most important things you can do for your Respiratory System is to keep your hands clean and wipe surfaces. There are a lot of organisms that can’t live for long outside your body. Water and soap keeps your hands less contaminated!
Of course, refrain from smoking. Smoking damages the cells lining your respiratory tract and impairs your lungs’ ability to clear mucus, increasing your risk of respiratory diseases like COPD and lung cancer. That is because the chemicals in the smoke damage cilia, the hairlike projections that sweep mucus up and out of your lungs in a cough.
Regular exposure to secondhand smoke can also harm your respiratory health, and your pet’s health too.
Exercise helps increase your lung capacity and strengthens the muscles involved in breathing. It can also boost your immune system, helping to protect against respiratory infections. It also helps with circulation.
A healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, can also support respiratory health. Certain nutrients, like Vitamins A, C, and E, and the minerals magnesium, calcium and potassium, are particularly beneficial for lung function. When magnesium is low, then the action of calcium may be enhanced, and when magnesium is higher, this may block calcium. Having calcium available to move into cells helps with the smooth muscle contraction of the bronchioles (4).
Of course, minerals can become imbalanced if taking too much of one, and not enough of another.
