Module 7 Intro

Module 7—The Digestive and Respiratory Systems

Lesson Summary

In this lesson you explored the following essential question:

• How does technology provide solutions or limitations to the treatment of disorders affecting the digestive and respiratory systems?

As you looked at disorders of the digestive and respiratory systems, you looked at related symptoms, causes, treatments, and diagnostic technology. You also explored the world views of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) people in regards to traditional medicine.

Traditional medicine incorporates the use of herbal and spiritual remedies to cure illness. It is the belief of both the World Health Organization and FNMI people that health is not just the absence of disease, but health is also mental and social well-being. In contrast, Western medicine often approaches health with the treatment of disease by drugs, invasive medical treatments, and surgery.

By investigating a variety of diseases, you have become familiar with how disorders will interrupt the body’s natural exchange of matter and flow of energy. Both traditional and Western medicines attempt to restore homeostatic balance to your body system.

However, medicine cannot cure all diseases. For example, emphysema is a disease (usually caused from smoking) that is incurable. Being healthy is a function of smart lifestyle choices and available technology that can help you maintain or restore homeostasis.

Lesson Glossary

emphysema: an obstructive respiratory disorder in which the walls of alveoli break down and lose elasticity

There are fewer individual air sacs as walls break down, thus reducing the surface area for gas exchange. A loss of elasticity makes exhaling more difficult.