Compare And Contrast The Respiratory And Digestive Systems

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All 4 systems, cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory and excretory all aid the body in maintaining homeostasis through the exchange of gases and molecules throughout the body. The respiratory and cardiovascular systems work together to insure all parts of the body have an adequate oxygen supply for every cell to carry out cellular respiration. Deoxygenated blood is pumped from the heart to the lungs where it captures oxygen molecules and transports them from the lungs to around the body until the blood is deoxygenated again. Both systems are also used to remove CO2 from around the body by following the opposite path and exhaling it as waste. The cardiovascular system also works with the digestive system to transport molecules and nutrients needed for cellular respiration. In the digestive system complex molecules are broken down into smaller, simpler molecules like glucose. These molecules are then …show more content…

The cardiovascular system is made up of a very special type of muscle called cardiac muscle. What is unique about cardiac muscle is that it has to pump involuntarily 24/7 meaning the muscle itself must be very strong and very resilient. The digestive system is made up of smooth muscle which allows food to move along the muscle while remaining in contact with the food in order to aid in digestion. Another big aid to digestion is the folding of the digestive system, both within the system and the system as a whole. Inside the intestines are lined with villi which increase the surface area for digestion immensely while the whole digestive system is folded multiple times to maximize the time for digestion. The respiratory system is filled with blood vessels in order to maximize oxygen absorption. The lungs contain an immense network of blood vessels surrounding structures called alveolus which is where the actual gas exchange happens and thus makes sense that it would have the greatest concentration of blood

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