Preface

The respiratory system, as a port of entry, plays an important role in the health and disease of individuals. Understanding respiratory physiology can aid practitioners in diagnosing the cause of respiratory symptoms. Physiological factors should be considered before interpreting any medical condition. Clinical application of physiology knowledge can influence the outcome of respiratory disorders.

This book is for medical students, residents, healthcare workers, and scientists. Understanding of the concepts contained in this book will give confidence to provide effective medical care.

Chapters cover aspects of hyperbaric physiology, exercise physiology, skeletal muscle dysfunction in chronic respiratory disease patients, impact of environmental media on the respiratory system, and cognitive impairment in chronic respiratory patients.

*Respiratory Physiology* is organized into three sections containing five chapters. Section 1 contains an introductory chapter that discusses the general principles of physiology. Section 2 examines respiratory physiology and exercise. It covers the principles of intermittent sprint work as well as the indicators of sarcopenia in patients with chronic respiratory disease. Section 3 describes the impact of environmental media on the respiratory system.

Sections 2 and 3 provides interesting information about exercise, altitude, and environmental pollution and their impact on health and disease.

As the knowledge of physiology is constantly increasing, this book includes interesting concepts and evidence based on experiences from clinical trials.

I thank all the authors for their contributions in making this interesting manuscript.

I hope readers will enjoy this study of physiology and deepen their knowledge of this field.

> **Ketevan Nemsadze** David Tvildiani Medical University, Georgia

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

**Chapter 1**

Physiology

*Ketevan Nemsadze*

physiology [3].

**1. Introduction: What is physiology?**

term of cellular and molecular physiology.

to the human body, and everything in between [4].

understanding of the roles that genes play in physiology [3].

Introductory Chapter: Respiratory

Physiology is the link between the basic sciences and medicine. It integrates the individual functions of all the body's different cells, tissues, and organs into a functional whole, the human body. Understanding the principles of physiology can help us explain the physical and chemical mechanisms that are responsible for the origin, development, and progression of life. Each type of life is from the simplest virus to the largest tree or the complicated human being. The science of *human physiology* attempts to explain the specific characteristics and mechanisms of the human body that make it a living being. The fact that we remain alive is the result of complex control systems. Ultimately, the functions of cells, tissues, and organs must be coordinated and regulated. All of these functions are the essence of the discipline of physiology [1, 2]. Physiology studies dynamic processes of life from the simplest molecules, organelles, cells, tissues to the complex organs and organ systems. The discipline of physiology has been closely interconnected with medicine. Structure and function are related to each other – as in case of anatomy, histology, structural biology and

Medical physiology deals with how the human body functions. Countless molecules, subcellular organelles, cells, tissues, organs and organ systems work coordinately to maintain the homeostasis of a body. It is essential to take a global view of the human body, considering every level of the organizational unit.

Classification of physiology could be according to the organ systems. For many practicing clinicians, physiology may be the function of an individual organ system, such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, or gastrointestinal system. Others focus on the cellular principles that are common to the function of all organs and tissues. This last field has traditionally been called general physiology, but nowadays the

As a discipline of physiology evolves and new information emerges, there is a tendency to integrate physiological concepts from the level of DNA and epigenetics

Physiological genomics is the link between the organ and the gene. The grand organizer—the master that controls the molecules, the cells, and the organs and the way they interact—is the genome with its epigenetic modifications. Physiological genomics (or functional genomics) is a new branch of physiology devoted to the

Some important aspects of physiology remain as fundamentally important today as when the pioneers of physiology discovered them a century or more ago. These early observations were generally phenomenological descriptions that physiologists have since been trying to understand at a mechanistic level. In his lectures on the phenomena of life, Claude Bernard noted in 1878 on the conditions of the constancy of life. Claude Bernard introduced the concept of "milieu intérieur" – internal

## **Chapter 1**
