Nasal Synopsis
Respiration process starts at our nose. The nasal passage is nothing less than high tech purification and air conditioning system. The system first filter out larger dust particles and the incoming air is subjected to the mucus membranes that lines the nasal cavity. The cells of the mucus lining secrets sticky mucus where impurities of the incoming air gets trapped and duly disposed off. Through adequate blood supply beneath the mucus membrane, the air in the nasal passage gets proper warming up and humidification. That’s why one gets bleeding through nose so easily. The blood supply in the nasal passage has other relevance also, it cleans the incoming air chemically.
The nose, in fact, works like a multi-level scrubbing tower, supplied with fresh cleaning fluid at every level. One must try to imagine the efficiency of the nasal mucosa to clean ozone, Sulphur dioxide and other water solvent pollutants within fraction of a second’s contact in the nasal passage. It is certainly far better cleaning than what our mouth does when we breathe through the mouth.
Cleaned and warmed up air passes to the wind pipe, trachea and then to two large branches, the main bronchi and then to smaller bronchiole. The bronchi’s mucus membranes have cilia, the tiny hair growth which move layer of mucus upwards towards the throat where the layer along with the entrapped particles are swallowed. These swallowed particles are taken care of by the stomach acids.
The air that enters the bronchiole, it ends up in a tiny air sac called alveolus, where the cells are changed from mucus to enzymes. These enzymes dissolve the particles.
But, why so much emphasis is given to air cleaning in the respiratory system! The warm and wet climate in the alveoli is an ideal place for microbes to grow and the air is full of microbes. Had there been no in built air cleaning systems in our body, we would all have died of pneumonia.