Pharma IQ Glossary: Pulmonary

The Pulmonary (The lung) is the essential respiration organ in all air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart. Their principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. This exchange of gases is accomplished in the mosaic of specialized cells that form millions of tiny, exceptionally thin-walled air sacs called alveoli. Medical terms related to the lung often begin with pulmo-, from the Latin pulmonarius, or with pneumo- (from Greek).