COURSE XIII: Respiratory System Bundle

The first lesson is an introduction to the lower respiratory system looking first at the significance of the lungs in more ancient systems of medicine. Moving on we contemplate the significance of how we breathe – what this speaks about our state of being and the downstream effects on the health of our body and its inner organs. We learn about the feedback loops for controlling our breathing pattern and the importance of carbon dioxide in setting our breathing rate. Third-party resources for self-directed study are then offered to help consolidate the basic understanding structure and physiology of the respiratory system.

Th next lesson is a deep dive into the pathophysiology of diseases affecting our lungs. Here we reinforce an appreciation of what the body needs to sustain itself in health, and what processes unfold when imbalance is sustained beyond the capacity to buffer and equilibrate. We start by contemplating the story of Tobacco and its use in Native America and the modern world. Attention is then turned to each of the big categories of ailments affecting the respiratory system; chronic bronchitis, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis and hypertension, pneumonias and tuberculosis (TB), lung cancer, and cystic fibrosis. For each condition the underlying causes and manifestations in the histopathology, as well as clinical symptoms and signs are explored.