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-Respiratory System Problem Page-

1. Choose one of the problems described below.
2. Prepare your solution as a word document.
3. Send it to your professor as an email attachment. You will receive an email response.

Problem #1:Hyaline membrane disease affects some infants born prematurely. Utilize the Internet or other sources to answer the following questions:

1. What is hyaline membrane disease?
2. Describe the normal role for the substances called "surfactant."
3. Explain what it means to say that a molecule "lowers the surface tension" of water.
4. It is often said that at birth, one's first inhalation of air is the most difficult breath we ever take in our lives. Explain this statement? How does surfactant help this first breath?
5. How do artificial surface active agents work, in the treatment of hyaline membrane disease.
6. Is hyaline membrane disease only a condition of children? Why might an adult's lung collapse?

Problem #2: Asthma is a condition of the respiratory passages that negatively affects the breathing of many people. Utilize the Internet or other sources to answer the following questions:

1. What is asthma?
2. How is asthma related to the immune system?
3. Who gets asthma and what factors seem to worsen this condition?
4. It has been suggested that asthma is related to dehydration? Can you find evidence to support and explain this statement?
5. How is asthma treated?
6. From the standpoint of alternative medicine, it is said that the herb Ginkgo biloba is useful in treating asthma. Can you find any evidence to support this statement?

Email your Professor at firstname.lastname@kbcc.cuny.edu