understanding ourselves

 

 

Hi, and welcome to this space! here you will be able to know more about our bodies in a simple way. 

let’s start with the basics, learning the terms so, let's begin. 

we will start talking about the mayor body regions

first off, we have the head which contains the skull, encloses, and protects the brain, the face, eyes, nose, cheeks, chin, and forehead. 

neck is the one who supports head and attaches to the trunk

trunk consists of chest, abdomen, and pelvis area. 

upper limb is the one which attaches to the trunk and consists of the shoulder, armpit, arm, forearm, wrist, and hand. 

lower limb is attached to the trunk, and consist of the buttock, thigh, leg, ankle, and foot. 

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now that we have the regions covered, we can move on to the directional terms, so next time you want to complain about a pain, you sound more professional, here we will put the list, so you choose what fits best to your necessities:

• Superior (cephalic or cranial): Toward the head or upper part of a structure.

• inferior (caudal): Away from the head or the lower part of a structure

• anterior (ventral): Nearer to or at the front of the body.

• posterior (dorsal): Nearer to or at the back of the body.

• medial: Nearer to the midline

• lateral: Farther from the midline.

• intermediate: Between two structures.

• Ipsilateral: On the same side of the body as another structure

• On the opposite side of the body from another structure.

• proximal: Nearer to the attachment of a limb to the trunk; nearer to the origination of a structure.

• distal: Farther from the attachment of a limb to the trunk; farther from the origination of a structure.

• superficial: Toward or on the surface of the body.

•  deep: Away from the surface of the body.

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and now the body planes, this are not that heard in our day-to-day lives, but still we can learn about them in case we do come across them so here we go my fellow curious internauts:

• sagittal plane:  a vertical plane that divides the body or an organ into right and left sides

• midsagittal or median plane: divides the body or organ into equal right and left sides

• parasagittal plane: divides them into unequal left and right sides

• frontal or coronal plane: divides the body or organ into anterior and posterior parts

• A transverse plane: divides the body or an organ into superior and inferior parts. The transverse plane can also be called a cross-sectional or horizontal plane.

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·         * The sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes are all at right angles to each other. 

•  oblique plane:  by contrast, passes through the body or an organ at an angle between the transverse plane and either a sagittal or frontal plane

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whew, now that we are out of those terms, we can move to some others that you may find more familiar, since we have them inside our bodies, and this are the body cavities, where our internal organs live and perform their day-to-day activities so let’s start with the definitions

 

• ventral cavity:  divided into the thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic cavities, although the last two are paired together sometimes as the abdominopelvic cavity.

• dorsal cavity: divided into the cranial and vertebral cavities. 

•  thoracic cavity: formed by the ribs, the chest muscles, the sternum, and the thoracic portion of the vertebral column. In there we can also find a pericardial cavity, which is a fluid filled space where we can find the heart, and two pleural cavities, each cavity surrounds one lung and contains a small amount of fluid. and the mediastinum contains almost all thoracic organs except for the lungs (heart, esophagus, trachea, thymus, and several large blood vessels). the thoracic cavity is separated from the abdominal by a horizontal, dome like shaped muscled known as diaphragm. 

•  abdominopelvic cavity: extends from the diaphragm to the groin and is enclosed by the abdominal wall and the bones and muscles of the pelvis. even though there is no physical division between the abdominal and pelvic cavities, we still divide them. the superior one is the abdominal cavity which contains the stomach, spleen, liver, gallbladder, small intestine, and most of the large intestine. and the pelvic cavity, which is the inferior and holds the urinary bladder, portions of the large intestine, and internal organs of the reproductive system. *The organs inside the abdominopelvic cavity are called viscera

• cranial cavity:  is formed by the cranial bones and contains the brain. 

• spinal or vertebral cavity:  formed by the vertebral column and contains the spinal cord.

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now that we are familiar with the anatomical terms, let’s begin with some more information about what constitutes us, and this will be not only our body tissues, but our skin, bones, and other muscles and this will help us to understand better ourselves. 

body tissues

• Epithelial tissue or epithelium: tightly packed cells that form a continuous layer. Because the cells are closely packed, and are held tightly together by many cell junctions, there is little intercellular space between adjacent plasma membranes. Each layer of this tissue has a special function.  When discussing epithelia with multiple layers of cells, the term apical layer refers to the most superficial layer of cells, while the basal layer refers to the deepest layer

• connective tissue: is one of the most abundant and widely distributed tissues in the body and has a variety of functions. in its characteristics we can find matrix, ground substance; fibers such as collagen fibers, reticular fibers, and elastic fibers. In contrast to epithelia, connective tissues do not usually occur on body surfaces, and are highly vascular, that is they are a rich blood supply, except for cartilage, which is avascular, and tendons, which have a scant blood supply. Connective tissue also has its own nerves, again apart from cartilage.

• Muscle tissue: consists of elongated cells called muscle fibers that use ATP to generate force, and as a result muscular tissue produces body movements, maintains posture, and generates heat, as well as provide protection. There are three types of muscular tissue based on its location, structure, and function: skeletal muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue and smooth muscle tissue.

 

• Nervous tissue: consists of two cell types, neurons, and neuroglia, and is present in the brain and spinal cord. A neuron is a specialized cell that has three parts: a cell body, dendrites, and an axon. 

Neuroglia

they exist 4 types of neuroglia, each one with a very important function, Astrocytes provide nutrients to neurons and produce a hormone known as glia-derived growth factor, which has potential as a treatment for Parkinson disease and other diseases caused by neuron degeneration. Oligodendrocytes form myelin sheaths. Ependymal cells line the fluid-filled spaces of the brain and spinal cord; and as for Microglia, its function is to support neurons and engulf bacteria and cellular debris.

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now that we have an overall idea of what our tissues are, where we can find them and what are they are made of, let’s take some time to see something that is more visible and palpable per say, and this is part of our integumentary system.

integumentary system

 if we hear this term on firsthand, we would hardly guess that we are talking about a part that we see every day, that even right now as I'm typing this vlog at 1:32 in the night i can see, and this is our skin, which is actually the epidermis that we see. 

and here we can see a little bit more, of what it looks behind our beautiful skin, not so beautiful if we speak aesthetically (or maybe for some, it is), but beautiful in this system and internal working, as everything works in a way that is constantly cleaning our insides. 

let’s start with the epidermis, which is the outer layer, this one is made out of epithelial tissue that is rich in keratin and contains four principal cells, keratinocytes, melanocytes, Langerhans cells, and Merkel cells.

 

 

• keranocytes: About 90% of the cells are of this type, which are arranged in four of five layers and produce the protein keratin, which helps protect the skin and underlying tissues from heat, microbes, and chemicals. Keratinocytes also produce lamellar granules, which release a water-repellant sealant that decreases water entry and loss and inhibits the entry of foreign materials. 
• melanocytes: make up about 8% of the epidermal cells. They have long, slender projections that extend between the keratinocytes and transfer melanin granules to them. Melanin is a yellow-red or brown-black pigment that contributes to skin color and is produced by the melanocytes. this serves a very important mission of protecting the skin from the UV rays while leaving space for the activation of Vitamin D.
• Langerharn cells:come from red bone marrow and migrate to the epidermis, where they make up a small fraction of the epidermal cell. They participate in immune responses against microbes that invade the skin, and are easily damaged by UV light 
• Merkel cells: are the least numerous of the epidermal cells, and are located in the deepest layer of the epidermis, where they contact part of a sensory neuron and detect different aspects of touch sensations 

then we have the dermis which is loose connective tissue that is just underneath of the epidermis, this region contains elastics fibers and collagen, which allows the skin to be strong, and to have extensibility. The dermis also contains blood vessels that feed the skin, as well as sensory receptors that are specialized free nerve endings that respond to stimulation.

 

now that we have some of the basis of the integumentary system, let’s see some of the functions of the skin, this explanation will be very short as the functions are very self-explanatory

• thermoregulation. adjusts the blood flow to regulate the body or secretes sweat to cool down. 
• blood storage. to carry out the blood through the blood vessels. 
• protection. protect our inner body from microbes and other bacteria
• cutaneous sensation. things such as touch, warmth, vibration, pressure, tickling and even thermal sensations. 
• excretion and absorption. elimination (via sweat) and addition of substances from the body.
• production/synthesis of vitamin D. Enzymes in the liver and kidneys modify the activated molecule, producing calcitriol, the most active form of vitamin D. this when the skin receives UV rays. 

And for now, this is all we are going to learn about the integumentary system, I hope that you have a clearer idea of this, let’s move on to the next topic...

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spooky scary skeletons, send shivers down your spine, spooky scary skeletons, are inside us. we are spooky scary skeletons, but let’s make them less spooky or scary, by understanding them and their functions, that'll do. 

 

firstly, let’s start by explaining what our skeletons do for us, what their functions are 

 

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• support
• protection 
• aid in movement 
• mineral homeostasis
• blood cell production 
• triglyceride storage

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which are very self-explanatory, the main minerals of the bones are calcium and phosphorus. 

 

and now let’s move on to the classification of bones, first off we have the axial skeleton, which is made of the midline of the body (skull, hyoid bone, vertebral column, rib cage, sternum, bones of the middle ear). 

 

 

 

then, we have the appendicular skeleton, which consists of limbs and their girdles (pectoral/shoulder girdle, which is scapula and the clavicle, pelvic girdle which is two coxal bones - each having three parts, ilium, ischium and pubis) the pelvis bears the weight of the body and protects organs located in the pelvic cavity. 

 

 

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The wrist has eight carpal bones; the palm has five metacarpal bones; and the fingers and thumb are made up of the phalanges. The bones of each lower limb include the femur in the thigh, the tibia and fibula in the leg, the seven tarsal bones of the ankle, the five metatarsal bones of the instep and the bones of the toes called phalanges 

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now that we are getting more comfortable with our skeletons, let’s talk about this funny terminology for some of the bones and we will also offer some fun examples of the bones that meet these requirements :D

long bones, are as their names say, long, this can be such as the humerus or femur. 

short bones, are again as their name states, short, their lengths and widths are almost equal, and this can be identified like the carpals and tarsals. 

flat bones, are flat and with broad surfaces such as those of the skull.

irregular bones, have various shapes that allow connections with other bones such as vertebrae and facial bone.

round bones, are circular shape and normally embedded in a tendon, such as patella or kneecap.

 

 

and with that we conclude this fun little segment about the skeletal muscular system, we can go put that skeleton back in the closet and move on. so, let's go

 

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now we will continue with our awesome explanations, moving forward with the positive and negative feedback systems. this feedback systems occur when talking about homeostasis, which is a way of autoregulation to keep a relative consistency in composition and properties in our inner bodies. 

 

we will make this explanation very simple, just so we don't get all mixed up and we can have a quick understanding of the basics; with that said, let's start with the positive feedback, 

 

positive feedback, occurs when the product of a reaction leads to an increase in that reaction, if we talk in a homeostasis system, this will take us further from a target equilibrium. It does this by amplifying the effects of a product or event and occurs when something needs to happen quickly.

 

and the negative feedback, when the product of a reaction leads to a decrease in that reaction. which in reaction brings it closer to the target equilibrium. The negative feedback systems are also responsible for the stabilization of a system, and ensure the maintenance of a steady, stable state. 

 

and that is all for this explanation, we hope this was an easy topic to understand. and if not, don't worry you can head always book a course here in the enterprise, and give it a free trial!

 

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now that we have left behind the terminology for anatomy, it is time to talk about our health, as you may now here at our institution, we value healthy overall, that is why here you can find the best physiotherapy and dermatologist at a very convenient price. so, in order to keep our costumer informed, we would like to get into the topic of factors to look out to, to prevent skin cancer and osteoporosis. 

 

although sometimes genetics plays a very important role in our health, here are some other factors to look out, we would also advise to do regular checkups with a doctor, with that said let’s look into some risk factors of skin cancer;

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• Fair skin
• A history of sunburns
• Excessive sun exposure
• Sunny or high-altitude climates
• Having moles or precancerous lesions know as actinic keratosis
• A personal or family history of skin cancer
• A weakened immune system
• Exposure to radiation or to certain substances such as arsenic

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and now with some controllable risk factors of osteoporosis in order to be able to prevent it:

 

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• too little estrogen or testosterone 
• too much thyroid or parathyroid hormone
• people with anorexia 
• a low calcium intake diet
• people who have undergone gastrointestinal surgery
• people who are very inactive 
• high alcohol consumption
• high tobacco consumption 

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now that we have this information to look out for, we would like to suggest some activities to integrate into our daily lives in attempts of preventing any chronical disease in the future, if you want further information or a more detailed plan, feel free to make an appointment with one of our specialists. without further ado, let’s get with the activities 

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• get food rich in nutriments and vitamins 
• get exercise done, even if its walking or swimming
• apply sunscreen daily
• avoid excesses 
• avoid spending long time in the sun 
• stretch every day and every night 
• get studies done regularly 

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and that is all for this entry, if you liked this, we would appreciate that you give us a good grade, and we will see each other later ;)