Anatomy of ill health - page 2
Keywords: Anatomy ill health environmental health human body
By JN on 02/06/2009
Level: Bachelor Honours Degree (BA, BEng, BSc etc)
Page Number: 2 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
heart to the lungs (See Appendix 4). Arteries pump away from the heart and have stretchable walls to force blood around body. Capillaries are one cell thick so oxygen and water can pass into them and carbon dioxide and other waste can leave. Veins carry blood back to the heart and have valves to stop backflow of blood. Arterioles are a smaller version of arteries with a similar structure and they maintain blood pressure. Venules are smaller veins they carry deoxygenated blood from capillaries to larger veins. The functions of the circulatory system are to provide cells with food and oxygen, carry waste products including carbon dioxide away from the body, temperature regulation, fight infection and to transport hormones.
Blood is composed of Plasma, a yellow liquid that contains water and plasma proteins and helps with heeling burns, red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body, white blood cells which fight bacteria and Platelets which clot the blood to stop blood loss and infection getting into wounds.
The lymphatic system, which works along side the circulatory system, is made up of lymphatic vessels, lymphatic capillaries, lymph nodes and lymphatic ducts. It is responsible for transporting excess waste away from tissues; it contains lymphocytes and leucocytes and distributes these into the blood when necessary. Lymphatic vessels have thin walls, valves and three layers of tissue these vessels take lymph from the capillaries towards the heart. Lymphatic capillaries consist of a single layer of endothelial cells and are permeable tubes, which transport excess fluid away from tissue space. Lymph nodes are all over the body from the neck to the knee including elbows and under the arms. Lymph nodes are made up of lymphatic tissue and have a tough support tissue called trabeculae. They have a duty to remove and destroy harmful microorganisms, tumour cells and damaged or dead cells by filtration; it also produces antibodies and lymphocytes. There are three types of cell within the lymph tissue: lymphocytes, cells producing antibodies, phagocytes that engulf harmful bacteria and dividing cells to form new lymphocytes.
The muscular system is a composition of the bodies’ muscles and tendons. Muscle tissue is elastic and is found in the form of bundles of which the end is tenon whereby it can be attached to other parts of the body. The muscle consists of 75% water, 20% proteins, 5% fats, mineral salts and glycogen (An introductory
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