The Physiology of the Lungs

The physiology of the lungs is associated with their structure. There are over 700,000,000 alveoli in the lungs. The total surface of the alveoli is about 90 sq. m (square metres). The lungs have many capillaries with the total surface of about 80 sq. m. This particular structure of the lungs enables the exchange of gases between the alveolar air and the blood.

Elastic fibers of connective tissue composing the walls of the alveoli, alveolar passages and the visceral pleura enable the lungs to dilate.When one breathes normally not all the alveoli and capillaries of the lungs are opened. When respiration becomes deep, the number of the opened alveoli and capillaries increase. The flow of blood into the lungs increases when one breathes in and it decreases when one breathes out.

The regulation of the vital capacity of the lungs is of particular importance to the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide taking place in the lungs. It is considered that in the adult the vital capacity may be 6 litres and even more.

The lungs take part in the production of physiologically active substances, in the regulation of blood coagulation, in the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Diseases of the respiratory tract Home Assignments 1

Task 1 Study the following grammar items:

Perfect Continuous Tenses

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to have been + Ving

Ex: I have been examining the patient for half an hour. – Я

оглядаю цього хворого вже півгодини.

I had been examining the patient for half an hour when you came. – Я вже півгодини як оглядав хворого, коли ви прийшли.

Task 2 Find the predicates and explain the way they are formed.

Translate the sentences:

1 The patient has been making a slow recovery for a month.

2 We shall have been investigating this case for three weeks by the end of the year.

3 The patient had been coughing for a month by the time he was admitted to the hospital.

Task 3 Rewrite the pairs of sentences, underline the predicates and define the difference between them. Translate the sentences:

А 1 I am waiting for the findings of my blood analysis.

2 I have been waiting for the findings of my blood analysis for

an hour.

В 1 Dry răles are disappearing slowly.

2 Dry răles have been disappearing during this week.

C 1 The nurse is giving the injections.

2 The nurse has been giving the injections for two hours.

Task 4 Write down the questions to the words in bold type:

1 My mother has been suffering from a bad pain in the substernal area for three hours.

2 The patient had been complaining of a considerable muscular pain before he was admitted to the hospital.

3 By three o’clock the professor will have been delivering the lecture for half an hour.

Task 5 Remember the reading of the words given below. Find the corresponding terms:

lobular, focus, foci, cyanosis, bronchiole, crepitation, diffuse, differentiate, pleurisy.

Task 6 Learn the following terms:

gradually – поступово

improve – покращуватися

accompany – супроводжувати

occlusion – закупорка

purulent – гнійний

sputum– мокротиння

accelerate– прискорювати(ся)

reduce– знижувати, послабляти

dullness – приглушення

spleen– селезінка

enlarge– збільшувати(ся), розростатися

sign – ознака, симптом

intensity – напруженість, сила, щільність

shadow – тінь, затемняти

severe – різкий, сильний

unit– одиниця виміру, відділення

Task 7 Read and translate the following words and word combinations:

1 Оcclusion: the occlusion of the artery, the occlusion of the small intestine, to reveal the intestine occlusion.

2 Sputum: purulent sputum, thick sputum, the analysis of the sputum failed to reveal cellular elements.

3 Sign: abnormal signs, the signs of the disease, these signs indicated the presence of inflammation.

4 Severe: a severe form of the disease, a severe inflammation, to suffer from a severe cardiovascular disease, to suffer a severe form of the grippe.

Task 8 Translate the words with the same root:

appear, appearing, appeared, disappear, disappearance; reduce, reduced, reducing, reduction; large, enlarge, enlarged, enlarging, enlargement; improve, improving, improved, improvement; intensity, intensive, intensively, intensify.

Task 9 Choose the right ending to complete the sentence:

1 The spleen is the organ …

a) located in the left side of the abdominal cavity behind the stomach;

b) located in the right side of the thoracic cavity behind thelung.

2 Purulent sputum …

a) never contains any microorganisms;

b) always contains some microorganisms.

3 The patient with severe form of pneumonia …

a) was allowed to attend the treatment at the polyclinic;

b) was admitted to the in-patient therapeutic department of the hospital.

Task 10 Read the text. Find the sentences with Perfect Continuous tense and translate them. Make up the plan of the text. Get ready to answer the questions to the text. Give corresponding equivalents to the following terms:

у межах, при глибокому вдиханні, потрапити до лікарні, по всій легені, важка форма пневмонії