Practical 2 essay questions

What is the purpose of a vaccine?

• exposure to to a pathogen triggers antibody production

• active immunity

• creates memory cells to remember the pathogen

What impact does the microbiome have on health?

• Immune system support (recognize harmful substances and fight infections)

• Digestion (break down food especially high fiber foods)

• Metabolism regulation (how your body stores fat and uses energy)

• Inflammation control

Explain why epiglottis is life threatening.

• Airway obstruction (swelling times the normal size)

• Prevents oxygen from reaching the body (without air flow brain cant get enough oxygen)

• No alternative airflow (suffocation)

• Food getting lodged (choking, “went down the wrong pipe”)

Describe how pneumonia affects the amount of oxygen in the blood.

• lowers oxygen levels in the blood

• causes inflammation that fills the lungs air sacs (alveoli) with fluid

• inflamed alveoli cannot effectively transfer oxygen from the air into the surrounding capillaries.

Use a typical TV of 0.5 L and 10 breaths per minute to calculate a minute volume.

• Minute volume = Tidal Volume x breaths/minute

• Minute volume = 0.5 × 10 = 5 L/minute

If you are taking shallow breaths (TV = 0.25 L) to avoid severe pain from rib fractures, what respiratory rate will be required to achieve the same minute volume as determined above?

• We want to keep 5 L so 5/0.25 = 20

• We will need a respiratory rate of 20 breaths/minute

In fibrosis, what would happen to the lungs and how would it impact total lung capacity and vital capacity?

• the lung tissue becomes scarred, thickened, and stiff, severely reducing the lung's ability to expand and transfer oxygen into the bloodstream.

• total lung capacity decreases because the lungs cannot fully expand due to stiffness and scarring

• vital capacity decreases meaning the total amount of air a person can exhale after maximum inhalation is reduced.

In emphysema, what would happen to the lungs and how would it impact total lung capacity and vital capacity?

• the alveoli (air sacs) are destroyed, causing them to rupture and form large air pockets rather than small ones, which reduces the surface area for gas exchange and causes air trapping.

• total lung capacity increases due to chronic overinflation, lungs hold more air than normal

• vital capacity decreases because the ability to fully inhale and exhale is impaired, reducing the total volume of exchangeable air.

What would you expect to happen to your expiratory reserve volume and tidal volume when you are treading water in a lake?

• Tidal volume increases because treading water is a form of physical exercise, the body requires more oxygen, leading to deeper breaths and higher breathing rate

• Expiratory reserve volume (ERV) would decrease because the water pressure against your chest compresses the rib cage, making it harder to expand and reducing the volume of air that can be forcibly exhaled beyond a normal breath.

Explain how pneumothorax might result in atelectasis (lung collapse) and what should be done to restore negative pressure of the pleural cavity.

• When air enters the pleural space, destroying the normal negative pressure that holds the lung against the chest wall. This causes the lung to recoil and collapse inward.

• To restore negative pressure air must be removed via needle decompression, chest tube insertion, or small-bore catheter drainage.

In pectus excavatum (sunken chest), what effect would you expect to have on vital capacity and why?

• you would expect a decrease in vital capacity

• The inward chest wall limits how much the lungs can expand

• This reduces maximum inhalation and overall volume of the thoracic cavity

What is the function of the mesentery?

• The mesentery is a continuous, double-layered fold of tissue

• attaches the intestines to the abdominal wall providing support and carrying blood, lymphatic vessels, and nerves.

• plays a crucial role in maintaining intestinal stability

• facilitates immune and inflammatory responses.

Explain why salivary amylase will not be able to break down protein.

• Because of enzyme specificity

• Salivary amylase is designed to break down specific bonds in carbohydrates (glycosidic bonds)

• Its 3D structure does not fit the shape of protein molecules meaning it cannot cause the breakdown of a protein

Celiac disease is caused by an immune response to gluten. Explain why enzyme supplements are ineffective and do not work in the stomach.

• They are generally ineffective because the enzymes cannot survive the harsh acidity of the stomach

• The stomach has low pH levels so even if the enzyme did survive in lab tests they would fail in a human because they require a neutral pH to function and cannot sufficiently break down gluten fragments. This would leave toxic peptides triggering an immune response.

Describe how individuals with cystic fibrosis will have difficulty with digestion.

• Most people with CF have sticky mucus that blocks ducts in the pancreas and prevents enzymes from reaching the small intestine to digest food.

• Undigested food in the intestines can cause pain, cramping, and gas.

• It can also cause either loose, greasy, floating stools or constipation and blockages.