Question

The following are optional essay bonus questions. You can choose ONE. I will only grade one, so please do not answer multiples. Answer thoroughly. You can obtain up to 5 additional bonus points.

A. Explain why females are generally shorter than males. Explain thoroughly. Discuss what is
occurring during puberty at the skeletal system to account for this difference in height.

B. The trachea of the respiratory system is lined with what type of epithelia? Why is this type of
epithelia beneficial for the individual? Those who chronically smoke stop producing this epithelia in the trachea and begin to produce a different type of epithelia. What type of epithelia would you expect the chronic smoker to now be producing, why? Explain the pros and cons of this switch to the individual.

C. Gigantism, pituitary dwarfism and Marfan’s syndrome all deal with activity at the epiphyseal plates. What is occurring at the epiphyseal plates? Explain the difference between these 3 conditions...what is the root problem for each, what cells are being affected in each condition, what would the patient experience with each condition (symptoms)?.

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Answer 1

The trachea of the respiratory system is lined up by the pseudostratified columnar epithelial tissue, which is ciliated and includes mucus-secreting goblet cells.

Pseudostratified columnar epithelial tissue is beneficial for the individual because it acts as a barrier to pathogens and foreign particles but it also works by avoiding infection and tissue damage by using the mucociliary elevator.

Cigarette smoke exposure is associated with hyperplasia of the airway epithelial mucus cell, and reduced cilia and ciliated cells. Squamous epithelium, which is thicker and stronger, is ideally suited to cope with smoke-related injury and thus airways may undergo a change in cell type (metaplasia) from columnar to squamous.

Therefore, while squamous epithelium is not usually present in the airways, smoking may give rise to squamous cell carcinoma with the metaplastic shift representing an early intermediate phase towards malignancy.

The effect of smoke on the respiratory system includes irritation of the trachea and larynx; reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages.