Human Physiology

Terms	Definitions
Physiology	Is the branch of biology that deals with the parts of the body. Human Physiology deals with the human body.
Cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems	In the human body, there are many different kinds of cells. Each kind is specialized for the primary functions it performs. Examples are fat cells, skin cells, muscle cells, bone cells, and nerve cells. Group of cells arrange themselves into tissues, and various tissues work together to form organs, such as the skin, liver, heart, gallbladder, and intestines. Organs work together to form organ systems.
Muscular system	Allows movement and locomotion. The muscular system helps you make body movements and supports the body in its activities.
Voluntary and Involuntary muscles	Some actions are controlled by voluntary muscles, such as making a face, showing your biceps, or walking. Other muscle systems are involuntary, such as those that control breathing, your heart beating, and your digestive system.
Skeletal muscles	Help move the bones. They are attached to the bone by bands of tissue called tendons.
Skeletal system	Is a living system that provides shape and support to your body. It is build to protect your inner organs and to provide attachment points for muscles.
Calcium and phosphorus	Are important components of bone; these elements make bone hard.
Joints	Places where your bones come together. Joints are held together by bands of tissue called ligaments. Bones move at the joints. There are three major types of joints: ball and socket joints, like the shoulder and hip; pivot joints, like the elbow; and hinge joints, like the knee. These joints, working with the muscles and tendons, allow the body to move in certain ways.
Integumentary system	Skin or integument is your outermost protective layer. The skin is the largest organs in your body. It protects you from losing water and from the invasion of foreign organisms and viruses. Special nerve cells in the skin help send information to the brain, helping you to feel hot and cold, texture, softness, and pain.
Epidermis	Is the outer, thinner layer of skin. Underneath the epidermis, skin cells are continually being produced.
Dermis	Second layer of skin, containing blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and oil and sweat glands.
Fat	Underneath the dermis is layer of fat. This is where a lot of fat is stored as gain weight.
Respiratory system	Takes in oxygen and moves out waste material of carbon dioxide. Our lungs perform this job by breathing in and out.
Respiration	Is how our bodies use the oxygen from the air we inhale and eliminate the carbon dioxide when we exhale.
Digestive system	Digestion is accomplished by mechanical and chemical means, breaking food into particles small enough to pass into the bloodstream.
Esophagus	Is a long tube with muscles that contract and move the food to the stomach.
Stomach	Is a sack or bag. It breaks down the food by both mechanical and chemical means. The stomach mixes the food by a process called peristalsis.
Peristalsis	Is merely waves of muscle contractions.
Small intestine	Is a narrow in diameter but very long in length. The upper part of the small intestine is the duodenum. This is where most digestion takes place.
Bile	Bile is introduced from your liver. Bile breaks up the fat particles.
Pancreas	Introduces pancreatic fluid. This fluid promotes the chemical digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The fluid also neutralizes the stomach acid and makes insulin.
Large intestine	Food that is not digested continues to move through your system into the large intestine by means of peristalsis. The large intestine absorbs water, making the contents more solid.
Rectum and anus	Eventually the rectum and anus control the release of the semisolid waste called feces.
Circulatory system	Is one of the transportation system in your body. The main job of the circulatory system is to move oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, waste products, immune components, and hormones through your body.
Circulation	The circulatory system is composed of vessels and muscles that control the flow of blood around the body. This process of blood flowing around the body is called circulation.
Heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins.	Main components of circulatory system.
Coronary circulation	Is the circulation of blood within the heart itself by the coronary veins and arteries. If this circulation is blocked, it could result in a heart attack.
Pulmonary circulation	Is the flow blood from the heart to the lungs and back.
Systemic circulation	Is the blood (with oxygen) moving through your body to your important organs.
Heart	Is a strong muscle that operates as the engine of the circulatory system. It has four components that are called chambers. The two upper chamber are called atriums and the two lower chambers are called ventricles.
Pulmonary valves	Keep the blood from flowing backward.
Blood	About five liters of blood flows through your body, delivering essential elements and removing harmful wastes. Blood transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues and carbon dioxide from body tissues to the lungs. It also transports disease-fighting substances to the tissue and waste to the kidneys.
Red blood cells	Are shaped like disks and contain hemoglobin, which carries oxygen and carbon dioxide.
White blood cells	Fight bacteria, viruses, and other intruders in your body. The white blood cells are carried to the place where an intruder has invaded and go into that tissue. Their job is to destroy the bacteria.
Lymphatic system	Is composed of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, and certain organs. The system absorbs excess fluids from the body and returns them to the bloodstream. It also absorbs fat and transports it to the heart.
Immune system	The immune system defends our bodies from invading microorganisms and viruses called pathogens, as well as from cancerous cell growth.
Excretory system	The excretory system removes waste. It removes undigested material through the digestive system by way of the large intestine. It removes waste gases through the circulatory system and respiratory systems. It removes salts through the skin when we sweat. It removes excess water and waste through the urinary system.
Urinary system	The urinary system is responsible for maintaining the fluid levels in our bodies.
Kidneys	Plays a major role in the excretory system. They are two bean-shaped organs that are responsible for filtering blood that contains waste from the cells.
Nervous system	Coordinates and controls such as memory, learning, and conscious thought. The nervous system also maintains such functions as heartbeat, breathing, and control of involuntary muscle actions.
Brain	The brain is a sort of control center, as it sends and receives messages through a network of nerves.
Cerebrum	Is the largest part of the brain; it takes care of our thinking process. The outer layer of the cerebrum is called cortex and has a lot of ridges and grooves. More ridges and grooves allow more complex thinking to occur.
Cerebellum	Is the second largest part of the brain. Its job is to coordinate our muscle movements and maintain normal muscle tone and posture. The cerebellum coordinates our balance while walking, riding a bike, and so on.
Brain stem	Is closest to the spinal cord. It has three parts: the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla. The midbrain and pons coordinate various parts of the brain that it acts together. The medulla is involved in coordinating our heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, and the reflex centers for vomiting coughing, sneezing, swallowing, and hiccupping.
Hypothalamus	Regulates thirst, hunger, body, temperature, water balance, and blood pressure, and links the nervous system to the endocrine system.
Spinal cord	Is a thick bundle of nerves running down the center of the spine.
Endocrine system	Endocrine glands secrete hormones that regulate body metabolism, growth, and reproduction. These organs are not in contact with each other, but they communicate through chemical messages transported by circulatory system.
Pituitary gland	Stimulates the growth of muscles and bones.
Thyroid	Regulates metabolism.
Parathyroid	Increases the concentration of calcium in the blood.
Adrenal cortex	Helps the kidneys absorb water and sodium.
Adrenal medulla	Get the body ready for strenuous activity by increasing the concentration of blood sugar.
Pancreas	Regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. Increases the amount of sugar in the blood.
Ovaries	Promotes female secondary sex characteristics. Thickens endometrial lining.
Testes	Promotes male secondary sex characteristics.
Reproductive system	The purpose of reproductive system is to continue the species for another generation. The organs of the system, called gonads, produce gametes that combine in all the female system to produce the next generation. The male gonads are the testes, which produce sperm and male sex hormones. The female gonads are the ovaries, which produces eggs (ova) and female sex hormones.
Senses	Senses are sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. There are specialized organs for each sense.
Sight	Let's suppose that you are looking at an object. Light waves from that object enter the eye first through cornea (a transparent section of the eye) and then through the pupil, the opening in the iris. Light waves are brought to convergence first by the cornea, and then by the lens. The lens directs the light through the vitreous humor (a gelatinous substance) onto the retina. The retina has two types of cells, rods and cones. Rods detect light intensity, and cones respond to color. At this point, the light waves are changed to electrical signals and then sent along the optic nerve to the brain. The brain then interprets the signals as the picture of the object.
Hearing	Sound is a vibrating air. Vibrating air creates sound waves. These waves can pass through solids, liquids, and gases eventually reach your ear. When the sound waves reach your ear, they stimulate nerve cells that send signals to the brain. The brain interprets these signal as sound.
Smell	Substances such as food, perfume, and gases give off molecule into the air. These molecules stimulate some nerve cells in your nose. These nerve cells are called olfactory cells. The olfactory cells are moist from mucus. Molecules are dissolved in the mucus, and if there are a sufficient number of these molecules, a signal is sent to the brain, The brain then interprets these signals.
Taste	There are about 10,000 taste buds on your tongue. When you take food into your mouth, it begins to dissolve in liquid, your saliva. The mixture of saliva and food washes over your taste buds and stimulates the nerve fibers in the taste bud. The nerve fibers send a signal to your brain, and your brain translates the taste as sweet, sour, salty, bitter, or the taste of MSG (monosodium glutamate)
Touch	Your skin also has receptors allowing you to determine of something is hot, cold, rough, smooth, painful, hard, soft, and so on. The receptors send a signal to the brain, which in turn interprets the signals.
Nutrition	You need to eat for energy and to maintain your biologic functions. Food provides you with the necessary nutrients to survive. There are six types of nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins, minerals, and water. Proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins are all organic nutrients. Minerals and water are inorganic. Organic means the substance contains carbon.
Proteins	Are used by the body for replacement and repair of body cells and for growth. They are made up of amino acids. Eggs, meat, and cheese are considered protein foods.
Carbohydrates	Are a good source of energy for your body. Three types of carbohydrates are sugar, fiber, and starch. Sugars are simple carbohydrates. Starches and fiber are complex carbohydrates.
Fats	Provide energy and help absorb vitamins. Fats contains twice as much energy as carbohydrates. Excess energy from the foods you east is stored as fat.
Vitamins	Are nutrients that are needed for certain bodily functions and for preventing some diseases. Water-soluble vitamins, such as B and C, need to be taken in every day.
Minerals	Can regulate the chemical reactions in your body. You need some level of about 14 different minerals. Most minerals are needed only in small (trace) amounts.
Water	About two-thirds of your body is water. Your cells need water to carry out their work. You would die if you didn't have water for a few days.
Vitamin B	Helps growth, use of carbohydrate, red blood cell reproduction, and development of a healthy nervous system.
Vitamin A	Helps in growth, eyesight, and healthy skin.
Vitamin E	Helps in the information of cell membrane.
Vitamin C	Helps in growth, good bones and teeth, and wound healing.
Vitamin D	Helps in absorption of calcium and phosphorus in bone and teeth
Vitamin K	Helps with the clotting of blood and wound healing.
Calcium	Creates strong bones and teeth, good muscle and nerve activity.
Phosphorus	Creates strong bones and teeth regulates contraction of muscles.
Potassium	Regulates water balance in cells, muscle contraction, nerve impulse conduction.
Sodium	Regulates fluid balance in tissues, nerve impulse conduction.
Iron	Transports oxygen in red blood cells.
Iodine	Controls thyroid activity, metabolic stimulation.

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Human Physiology

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