A healthy person and an individual with emphysema having equal body mass were made to perform an exercise of the same amount. Their rate of oxygen entering the blood in the lungs was measured and is shown in the table below. Healthy Person Person with emphysema O 2 entering blood per minute 22 units 12 units Identify the statement that best explains the above outcome.

Question

A healthy person and an individual with emphysema having equal body mass were made to perform an exercise of the same amount. Their rate of oxygen entering the blood in the lungs was measured and is shown in the table below. Healthy Person Person with emphysema O 2 entering blood per minute 22 units 12 units Identify the statement that best explains the above outcome., The healthy person has a slower breathing rate., The healthy person has a smaller lung volume, The person with emphysema has damaged alveoli, The person with emphysema has larger surface area in alveoli

MARKS App · Accepted Answer

Emphysema is a condition where the elastin fibres surrounding the alveoli are damaged. As a result, the alveoli are not able to contract to its full extent causing reduction in volume of gas exchange. This ultimately leads to low oxygen-carrying capacity. From the table, we can see that the affected individual is showing very low exchange rate compared with the healthy one. Gas exchange site is the alveoli in the lungs. We can conclude that his alveoli are not functioning properly.

Search any question & find its solution

Looking for more such questions to practice?

	Healthy Person	Person with emphysema
O₂ entering blood per minute	22 units	12 units