A patient is admitted to hospital with feelings of breathlessness and low blood oxygen levels. Tests reveal the patient has emphysema, an obstructive lung disease characterized by the destruction of the walls of the alveoli and loss of lung elasticity.
a) Describe how destruction of the walls of the alveoli would affect oxygen diffusion and therefore oxygen levels in the blood. (3 marks)
b) Discuss how damage to elastic fibers in the lung would impact the patients’ breathing (inspiration and expiration). (3 marks).
c) Which lung volume would be most impacted by emphysema given your answer in (b) above? (1 mark)
d) To increase air movement in breathing, patients with emphysema increase their force of breathing by utilising accessory muscles. Explain how using accessory muscles allows for greater air movement during inspiration and expiration. (3 marks)
Sample Solution