What can impair ciliary movement?

• What can impair ciliary movement?

  • Dyskinetic cilia
  • Fluid balance
  • Cold air
  • Hypersecretory conditions
  • Post general anaesthesia
  • Increasing age
  • Infection & inflammation
• Cold air:

  • reduces ciliary beat frequency
• Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia:

  • genetic abnormality
  • structural defect to the cilia
  • causes abnormal movement of the cilia as they dont move in unison
• Anaesthesia:

  • stops cilia from beating normally
  • therefore there is a build up of mucus in a patient during an operation
• The elderly:

  • as age increases, ciliary beat frequency decreases
  • cilia will also form some structural abnormalities
• Infection and inflammation:

  • bacteria and viruses can attack cilia, which can impair ciliary function in themselves
  • but also by causing an inflammatory response more mucus is produced by goblet cells which further impairs ciliary function
• Smoking:

  • inhaling smoke causes ciliary akinesia - no movement of cilia
  • in the long term the cilia get burnt off the epithelium, causing build up of sputum in the lungs - leading to repeated chest infections
  • smoke also contains irritants that cause goblets to produce more mucus
  • cilia can recover if smoking is given up