How do the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system work together to provide the body with oxygen and dispose of waste products?

The airways are pipes that carry oxygen-rich air to the alveoli in your lungs. They also carry the waste gas carbon dioxide out of your lungs. The airways include these body parts: 

• Mouth 
• Nose and linked air passages called the nasal cavity and sinuses 
• Larynx (voice box) 
• Trachea (windpipe) 
• Tubes called bronchial tubes, or bronchi, and their branches 
• Smaller tubes called bronchioles that branch off of the bronchial tubes 

Air comes into your body 

Air first enters your body through your nose or mouth, which moistens and warms the air since cold, dry air can irritate your lungs. The air then travels past your voice box and down your windpipe. Rings of tough tissue, called cartilage, acts as a support to keep the bronchial tubes open. 

Inside your lungs, the bronchial tubes branch into thousands of thinner tubes called bronchioles. The bronchioles end in clusters of tiny air sacs called alveoli. 

Air fills your lung’s air sacs 

Your lungs have about 150 million alveoli. Normally, your alveoli are elastic, meaning that their size and shape can change easily. Alveoli are able to easily expand and contract because their insides are coated with a substance called surfactant. Surfactant reduces the work it takes to breathe by helping the lungs inflate more easily when you breathe in. It also prevents the lungs from collapsing when you breathe out. 

Each of these alveoli is made up of a mesh of tiny blood vessels called capillaries. The capillaries connect to a network of arteries and veins that move blood through your body. 

Blood low in oxygen flows through the lungs 

The pulmonary artery and its branches deliver blood to the capillaries that surround the alveoli. This blood is rich in carbon dioxide and low in oxygen. 

Oxygen flows into your blood 

Carbon dioxide moves from the blood into the air inside the alveoli. At the same time, oxygen moves from the air into the blood in the capillaries. 

The human body contains trillions of cells, 78 different organs and more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels if you stretched them end-to-end. Incredibly, all of these cells, vessels and organs work together to keep you alive.

Each organ belongs to one of ten human body systems. These body systems are interconnected and dependent upon one another to function. Your heart does not beat unless your brain and nervous system tell it to do so. Your skeletal system relies on the nutrients it gains from your digestive system to build strong, healthy bones.

There are 10 body systems:

1. Circulatory
2. Respiratory
3. Nervous
4. Muscular
5. Skeletal
6. Digestive
7. Endocrine (hormones)
8. Lymphatic, or immune system
9. Reproductive
10. Integumentary (skin, hair)

A body system is a group of parts that work together to serve a common purpose. Your cardiovascular system works to circulate your blood while your respiratory system introduces oxygen into your body.

Each Body System Works with the Others

Each individual body system works in conjunction with other body systems. The circulatory system is a good example of how body systems interact with each other. Your heart pumps blood through a complex network of blood vessels. When your blood circulates through your digestive system, for example, it picks up nutrients your body absorbed from your last meal. Your blood also carries oxygen inhaled by the lungs. Your circulatory system delivers oxygen and nutrients to the other cells of your body then picks up any waste products created by these cells, including carbon dioxide, and delivers these waste products to the kidneys and lungs for disposal. Meanwhile, the circulatory system carries hormones from the endocrine system, and the immune system’s white blood cells that fight off infection.

Each of your body systems relies on the others to work well. Your respiratory system relies on your circulatory system to deliver the oxygen it gathers, while the muscles of your heart cannot function without the oxygen they receive from your lungs. The bones of your skull and spine protect your brain and spinal cord, but your brain regulates the position of your bones by controlling your muscles. The circulatory system provides your brain with a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood while your brain regulates your heart rate and blood pressure.

Even seemingly unrelated body systems are connected. Your skeletal system relies on your urinary system to remove waste produced by bone cells; in return, the bones of your skeleton create structure that protects your bladder and other urinary system organs. Your circulatory system delivers oxygen-rich blood to your bones. Meanwhile, your bones are busy making new blood cells.

Working together, these systems maintain internal stability and balance, otherwise known as homeostasis. Disease in one body system can disrupt homeostasis and cause trouble in other body systems. If you become ill with the AIDS virus that affects your immune system, for example, you may develop pneumonia in your respiratory system, a yeast infection in your reproductive system, Candida that affects your esophagus in your digestive system or the skin cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma.

For more information on the connection between body systems, talk to your health professional at Revere Health. We offer family practice and 39 medical specialties to help all ten of your body systems work together. 

Sources:
Organs of the Body
Cleveland Clinic
AIDS.org

How do the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system work together to deliver oxygen?

How does respiratory system and circulatory system work together to supply the body with oxygen and to remove carbon dioxide from the body?

How the cardiovascular and respiratory systems work together to provide nutrients and rid of waste for the body?

How do the circulatory and respiratory system work together in the human body?