- Breathing
- The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction, and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.
* * *- apneustic b. pauses in the respiratory cycle at full inspiration, caused by damage of the respiratory control centers in the more caudal pons.- bronchial b. breath sounds of a harsh or blowing quality, heard on auscultation of the chest, made by air moving in the large bronchi and barely, if at all, modified by the intervening lung; duration of the expiratory sound is as long as or longer than that of the inspiratory sound, and its pitch as high as or higher than that of the inspiratory sound; may be heard over a consolidated lung, above a pleural effusion due to an underlying compressed lung, and rarely over a pulmonary cavity; whispered pectoriloquy is another manifestation that usually can be elicited when bronchial b. is present.- glossopharyngeal b. respiration unaided by the usual primary muscles of respiration; the air is forced into the lungs by use of the tongue and muscles of the pharynx.- intermittent positive pressure b. (IPPB) mechanical ventilating mode in which the patient triggers a pressure-limited breath. Outdated method of delivering aerosol therapy to the lungs.- mouth b. habitual respiration through the mouth instead of the nose, usually due to obstruction of the nasal airways.- positive-negative pressure b. (PNPB) inflation of the lungs with positive pressure and deflation with negative pressure by an automatic ventilator.- pursed lips b. a technique in which air is inhaled slowly through the nose and mouth and exhaled slowly through pursed lips; used by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to improve their b. by increasing resistance to air flow, forcibly dilating small bronchi.- stertorous b. SYN: stertorous respiration.
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n.the alternation of active inhalation (or inspiration) of air into the lungs through the mouth or nose with the passive exhalation (or expiration) of the air. During inhalation the diaphragm and intercostal muscles contract, which enlarges the chest cavity and draws air into the lungs. Relaxation of these muscles forces air out of the lungs at exhalation. Breathing is part of respiration and is sometimes called external respiration. There are many types of breathing in which the rhythm, rate, or character is abnormal. See also apnoea, bronchospasm, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, dyspnoea, stridor.* * *
breath·ing (brēthґing) ventilation (def. 2).
Medical dictionary. 2011.