Breathing is the transportation of oxygen across from the air in the lungs to circulating red blood cells (erythrocytes) which pass on the oxygen onto cells which require and utilise the oxygen, during aerobic respiration, to produce energy in the form of ATP. This biochemical reaction produces carbon dioxide as a waste product, and it is transported, using the red blood cells (RBCs), back to the lungs and exhaled. Figure 1 shows the relationship between breathing and cellular respiration, with the two connected by the gas carrying red blood cells. Notice the requirement for oxygen by the cells to produce energy in the equation at the top – breathing is how this requirement is fulfilled, whilst venting the waste products from respiration …show more content…
Higher body temperatures are found also when the body is undergoing a high level of respiration, and this causes haemoglobin to have a lower affinity for oxygen, meaning that oxygen is released more freely to keep respiration going.
2,3-Bisphosphoglyceric acid is an isomer of a glycolytic intermediate from respiration. It has a high affinity for deoxygenated haemoglobin, causing the haemoglobin to release the remaining oxygen more easily.
It is well known that low O2 will encourage increased breathing, as will high CO2 – O2 is vital for the continued production of energy and thus life, and CO2 is dangerous in high enough quantities and must be removed from the body. Therefore, it is of vital importance for the body to recognise and compensate for disrupted blood gas levels. The ventilation of the body is controlled by the respiratory centres found in the brainstem. Ventilation reacts and is changed to cope with the received input along with the goal of homeostasis of pO2, pCO2 & pH (H+). Failure to manage these effectively is fatal to