Breathing impairments

Several conditions can affect the respiratory system. These can be medical conditions, obesity, and pregnancy, amongst others.

Asthma is an obstructive disease that affects the lung’s airways, causing them to be inflamed constantly and in a hypersensitive state. This hypersensitive state is characterized by redness and swelling, narrowing the space where air flows. Asthma attacks or episodes can be triggered by different factors like dust, stress, chemicals, or a simple cold. When this happens, the muscles around the airways become stiffer and tighter, which makes the expiration process even more difficult. The tight and stiff muscles surrounding the airways can cause feelings like shortness of breath, leading to a lower inspiratory reserve volume. Resistance in the airways becomes higher due to inflammation and an increased amount of mucus in the bronchioles, resulting in difficulty exhaling. Therefore, the expiratory reserve volume decreases.

During pregnancy, a few structural changes affect the respiratory system. The most important one is the position of the diaphragm, which is pushed up by 4 cm due to the increasing size of the uterus, leading to a lower expiratory reserve volume. During pregnancy, abdominal content increases and causes the chest wall to expand less than the change in pressure, which lowers the residual volume in the lungs. The tidal volume and the respiratory rate increase to accommodate the amount of air needed when breathing for two, as a result of the diaphragm movement during breathing being increased by 2 cm. centimeters due to the increasing size of the uterus, leading to a lower expiratory reserve volume. During pregnancy, abdominal content increases and causes the chest wall to expand less than the change in pressure, which lowers the residual volume in the lungs. The tidal volume and the respiratory rate increase to accommodate the amount of air needed when breathing for two, as a result of the diaphragm movement during breathing being increased by 2 centimeters.