Bronchi. Tubular structure that conducts air from the trachea to the pulmonary alveoli. The bronchi are tubes with progressive arboriform ramifications (25 divisions in men) and decreasing diameter, the wall of which is made up of cartilage and muscular, elastic and mucous layers. As the diameter decreases, they lose the cartilage, thinning the muscular and elastic layers.
Summary
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- 1 Description
- 2 Function
- 3 Bronchial Diseases
- 4 Bronchial Asthma
- 5 Sources
Description
When a person breathes, the air they take in through their nose and mouth is directed into the windpipe . From there, it passes through the bronchi into the lungs and eventually comes out again. Sometimes the bronchi , which branch into smaller ducts called “bronchioles,” are known as the airways. The bronchi of asthmatic people are inflamed. This means that the airways swell and produce large amounts of thick mucus.
In addition, the bronchi are overly sensitive, or overreact, to certain factors, such as exercise, dust, or cigarette smoke. This causes the muscles around the bronchi to contract. The combination of inflammation and muscle contraction narrows the airways and makes breathing difficult.
Function
The function of the bronchi is to conduct air to the bronchioles. The bronchi also fulfill a Motor function, that is to say when the Inspiration takes place, the Bronchi widen and lengthen, which facilitates the circulation of air towards the Alveoli. In addition, they also take care of collaborating with the action of the Cilia that are in the mucosa to prevent foreign particles from entering the lungs, all this through a movement of the bronchial walls.
Bronchial Diseases
- Asthma
- Bronchial Fistula
- Bronchial hyperreactivity
- Bronchial Neoplasms (Cancer)
- Bronchospasm
- Bronchiectasis
- Bronchitis
- Bronchogenic cyst
- Bronchopneumonia
- Tracheobroncomegaly
Bronchial asthma
The Asthma Bronchial is a disease in which inflamed bronchus, recurrent or continuous form, causing an obstruction of the bronchial tubes (responsible for conducting the air breathed inward or outward). This obstruction is of variable intensity, and usually occurs in the form of “crises”, which sometimes subside on their own or only with special treatments. The frequency of these “crises” is highly variable, in some cases only once or twice a year, but generally several acute crises occur in a short period of time, especially in times of climate change ( autumn and spring ) or in cold weather. In this condition, bronchial inflammation is characterized by:
- Thicker and more abundant bronchial secretions (“hyper-secretion”)
- Internal swelling of the bronchi (“edema”)
- Sustained contraction of the muscles surrounding the bronchi (“bronchospasm”)
- Destruction and scarring of the superficial cellmembrane of the bronchi.
