The Web CyberNurse UK - Search. At the centre of the respiratory system are the lungs, where breathed-in oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide from the blood. Deep in the chest the trachea divides into two main bronchi, one for each lung, and each bronchus divides within the lung, into increasingly smaller bronchioles. The vital exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide occurs through minute blood vessels in the thin alveoli walls.
Air is sucked into the lungs by muscular action.
If this mechanism works well, breathing is an almost unnoticeable activity. The articles in this section comprise three groups, each concentrating on disorders affecting one area of the respiratory system. The third group comprises all the most common diseases of the lungs and chest, including the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles, and alveoli. These links to other web sites have been reviewed, and on the day they were posted, they were deemed informative and appropriate information for our visitors. When you leave the domain of cybernurse.org.uk we cannot guarantee the quality of the site you will access.