mechanics of respiration

[Mr. Freeze]

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I've either had bad teaching or just haven't picked up the mathematic ways of expressing the changes that occur during a respiratory cycle, with regard to P.pl, P.el, and P.alv. I can think in terms of the concepts, which are useless for minutiae exams, but do you think it sufficient to know pleural press. is always neg unless forced expiration or compromise of the pleura (both of which can exceed the pressure needed to maintain patent passages), that alveolar pressure is neg at the initiation of inspiration and positive at expiration, and that elastic pressure is both related to lung volume and opposing in relation to pleural pressure? It seems like each person that has tried to teach this to us makes it more complicated than it needs to be, or I am minimizing the level of detail with which we should be comfortable.

I guess I'm just wondering how much more thought to put into this. Strictly the physics of it, not PFTs or anything like that. Those are a given. 😀