Examine how environmental factors can affect the body’s respiratory system.
Objectives
• Describe factors that can influence breathing.
Instructions
Step 1: Respond to the following:
Suppose after a high-smog alert day in your city, a 5-year-old child with asthma, a 50-year-old male smoker with emphysema, and a 75-year-old of average health all come to the emergency room complaining of a cough and chest pain.
• Which patient’s health would you be the most concerned about and why?
• How do breathed-in air pollutants, such as smoke or asbestos, interfere with or worsen the respiration process in each of these scenarios?