What body systems does A2 2 cover?

The unit covers the structure and function of major body systems and a physiological disorder linked to each. Commonly this means the cardiovascular system with coronary heart disease, the respiratory system with asthma (and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and the digestive system with a metabolic disorder such as type 2 diabetes. It also covers how physiological disorders are monitored, diagnosed and treated.

What is coronary heart disease and what causes it?

Coronary heart disease is the narrowing of the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle, caused by a build-up of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis). This reduces oxygen to the heart, causing angina, and a complete blockage causes a heart attack. Risk factors include a high-fat diet, smoking, inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and stress (controllable), and age, sex and family history (not controllable).

How is asthma managed?

Asthma is a long-term condition in which the airways become inflamed and narrowed (bronchoconstriction, swelling and mucus), causing wheezing, breathlessness and coughing. It is managed by avoiding triggers (allergens, cold air, smoke), using a reliever inhaler (a bronchodilator) to open the airways during symptoms, and a preventer inhaler (a corticosteroid) used regularly to reduce inflammation. Peak flow monitoring and an action plan support self-management.

What clinical measurements are used to monitor physiological disorders?

Key measurements include blood pressure (a sphygmomanometer, about 120 over 80 millimetres of mercury when healthy), pulse rate (about 60 to 100 beats per minute), peak flow and spirometry (lung function), blood glucose (a glucose meter, about 4 to 7 millimoles per litre fasting) and an electrocardiogram or ECG (the electrical activity of the heart). Each reading is compared against a normal range to monitor or diagnose a disorder.

How should I revise A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders?

Learn each body system as structure linked to function, and be able to label clear diagrams of the heart, lungs and gut. Learn the ordered pathways (blood flow through the heart, air to the alveoli, food through the digestive system) as sequences. For each disorder, learn the mechanism, the controllable and uncontrollable risk factors, the signs and symptoms, and the lifestyle, medical and surgical management. Drill the clinical measurements, their instruments, units and normal ranges, then practise extended-writing answers.

Northern IrelandHealth & Social Care

CCEA A-Level Health and Social Care A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders: the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems and how disorders are monitored and treated

Q: How is the CCEA A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders unit assessed?

A2 2 is externally assessed by a written examination. It is the anatomy and physiology unit of the A2 year. The paper uses structured short-answer questions, data and calculation questions (such as interpreting clinical readings), diagram labelling, and extended-writing questions that ask you to describe a body system and explain a related physiological disorder, its causes, effects and management.

A deep-dive guide to the externally assessed CCEA A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders unit. Covers the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems and their physiological disorders (coronary heart disease, asthma and type 2 diabetes), and how disorders are monitored, diagnosed and treated, with the structure-to-function links and exam patterns CCEA repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.817 min readCCEAUpdated 2026-06-16

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What this unit demands
The cardiovascular system
The respiratory system
The digestive system
Monitoring and treating disorders
How this unit is examined
Check your knowledge

What this unit demands

A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders is the anatomy and physiology unit and is externally assessed by a written examination. CCEA tests two linked skills: precise recall of the structure and function of body systems, and the ability to explain physiological disorders, their causes, effects and management. The unifying idea, as in biology, is that structure suits function, and that disorders disrupt that function.

This guide walks through the four dot points, then sets out the exam patterns CCEA repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with worked questions; this overview ties them together.

The cardiovascular system

The cardiovascular system is the heart, blood vessels and blood. The heart has four chambers and valves; in the cardiac cycle the atria contract, then the ventricles (systole), then the heart relaxes (diastole). Coronary heart disease narrows the coronary arteries through atherosclerosis, causing angina or a heart attack, and is managed by lifestyle change, medication and surgery.

The respiratory system

The respiratory system carries air to the alveoli, where gas exchange occurs by diffusion. Breathing is driven by the diaphragm and intercostal muscles. Asthma is a long-term narrowing of the airways (bronchoconstriction, swelling and mucus), managed by avoiding triggers and using reliever and preventer inhalers; COPD is a usually irreversible damage strongly linked to smoking.

The digestive system

The digestive system breaks food into small soluble molecules absorbed mainly in the small intestine via villi, using enzymes (carbohydrases, proteases, lipases) and bile. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder of insulin and glucose control, linked to obesity and lifestyle, managed by diet, exercise, monitoring and medication.

Monitoring and treating disorders

Disorders are monitored with clinical measurements (blood pressure, pulse, peak flow, blood glucose, ECG, spirometry), diagnosed by combining history, examination and investigations against normal ranges, and treated at three levels: lifestyle, medical and surgical.

How this unit is examined

A typical CCEA profile for A2 2:

Structure and labelling. Labelling the heart, lungs and gut, and naming vessels, organs and enzymes.
Process and sequence. Describing blood flow, the cardiac cycle, gas exchange and digestion as ordered steps.
Disorders. Explaining the mechanism, risk factors, effects and management of a named disorder.
Measurement and data. Interpreting clinical readings against normal ranges.

Check your knowledge

Name the four chambers of the heart. (4 marks)
State the correct order of blood flow from the body back to the body. (3 marks)
Name three adaptations of the alveoli for gas exchange. (3 marks)
Explain how atherosclerosis causes coronary heart disease. (3 marks)
Describe the difference between a reliever and a preventer inhaler. (2 marks)
Explain why blood glucose stays high in type 2 diabetes. (2 marks)
Name three clinical measurements and what each shows. (3 marks)
Describe the three levels of treatment for a physiological disorder. (3 marks)

Solutions

Q1: Right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, left ventricle.
Q2: Body, vena cava, right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery, lungs, pulmonary vein, left atrium, left ventricle, aorta, body.
Q3: A large surface area, walls one cell thick, a rich capillary supply (a moist lining is also valid).
Q4: Fatty deposits build up in the coronary arteries (atherosclerosis), narrowing them and reducing oxygen to the heart muscle, causing angina or, if blocked, a heart attack.
Q5: A reliever opens the airways during symptoms (a bronchodilator); a preventer is taken regularly to reduce inflammation and prevent attacks (a corticosteroid).
Q6: The body makes too little insulin or the cells resist it, so glucose is not taken up from the blood and stays high.
Q7: Blood pressure (risk of hypertension), peak flow (lung function in asthma), and blood glucose (diabetes control). (Pulse and ECG are also valid.)
Q8: Lifestyle (diet, exercise, stopping smoking), medical (medication), and surgical (such as angioplasty and stents), often combined.

Sources & how we know this

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care specification — CCEA (2016)