RESPIRATORY FAILURE
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Respiratory failure is nearly any condition that affects breathing
function or the lungs themselves and can result in failure of the
lungs to function properly. The main tasks of the lungs and chest
are to get oxygen from the air that is inhaled into the bloodstream,
and, at the same to time, to eliminate carbon dioxide (C02) from the
blood through air that is breathed out. In respiratory failure, the
level of oxygen in the blood becomes dangerously low, and/or the
level of C02 becomes dangerously high. There are two ways in which
this can happen. Either the process by which oxygen and C02 are
exchanged between the blood and the air spaces of the lungs (a
process called "gas exchange") breaks down, or the movement of air
in and out of the lungs (ventilation) does not take place properly. |
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| RESPIRATORY FAILURE RELATED ITEMS |
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