CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE HUMAN BODY

Mr. Abdilahi M. Bade 1

March, 2022
Human anatomy and physiology is the study of the structure and

function of the human body.

Knowledge of its structure and function allows us to understand how

the body responds to a stimulus. For example, eating a candy bar

results in an increase in glucose or blood sugar (the stimulus).

Knowledge of the pancreas allows us to predict that it will secrete

insulin (the response). Insulin increases the movement of glucose

from the blood into the cells, providing the cells with a source of

energy.

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As the glucose moves into cells, blood sugar levels decrease back
toward a normal range of values.
Knowledge of structure and function also provides the basis for
understanding disease. For example, in one type of diabetes
mellitus the pancreas does not secrete adequate amounts of
insulin. Even though blood sugar levels increase without adequate
insulin, there is not enough movement of glucose into cells.
Therefore, cells are deprived of a needed source of energy, and
they malfunction.

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The study of anatomy and physiology is essential for those who plan
a career in the health sciences because a sound knowledge of
structure and function is necessary for health professionals to
perform their duties adequately.
Knowledge of anatomy and physiology is also beneficial to the non-
professionals. This background improves the ability to evaluate
physiological activities, understand recommended treatments,
critically evaluate advertisements and reports in the popular
literature, interact rationally with health professionals.

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 ANATOMY

Anatomy is the scientific discipline that investigates the structure of

the body. It covers a wide range of studies, including the form of
structures, their microscopic organization, and the processes by
which they develop. In addition, anatomy examines the relationship
between the structure of a body part and its function. Just as the
structure of a hammer makes it well suited for pounding nails, the
structure of body parts allows them to perform specific functions
effectively. For example, bones can provide strength and support
because bone cells surround themselves with a hard, mineralized
substance.
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Understanding the relationship between structure and function
makes it easier to understand and appreciate anatomy.
 Systemic anatomy: is the study of the body by systems and is the
approach takes in this and most other introductory textbooks.
Examples of systems are the circulatory, nervous, skeletal, and
muscular systems.
 Regional anatomy: is the study of the organization of the body by
areas. Within each region, such as the head, abdomen, or arm, all
systems are studied simultaneously. It is the approach takes in
most medical and dental schools.

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 Surface anatomy: is the study of external features, such as bony
projections, which serve as landmarks to locate deeper structures
(for examples of external landmarks).
Anatomical imaging involves the use of x-rays, ultrasound, magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), and the other technologies to create
pictures of internal structures .
Both surface anatomy and anatomical imaging provide important
information useful in diagnosing disease.

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 PHYSIOLOGY
Physiology is the scientific discipline that deals with the processes or
functions of living things. It is important in physiology to recognize
structures as dynamic rather than static or unchanging.
The major goals of physiology are:

i. To understand and predict the body’s responses to stimuli.

ii. To understand how the body maintains conditions within a
narrow range of values in the presence of a continually changing
environment.

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Physiology is divided according to:
i. The organisms involved.
ii. The levels of organization within a given organism.

Human physiology: refers to the study of a specific organism, the

human.
Cellular and systemic physiology are examples of physiology that
emphasize specific organizational levels.

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 STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION

The body can be studied at seven structural levels: chemical,

organelle, cell, tissue, organ, organ-system, and organism.
CHEMICAL
The structural and functional characteristics of all organisms are
determined by their chemical makeup
The chemical level of organization involves interactions between
atoms and their combinations into molecules. The function of a
molecule is related intimately to its structure.

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For example, collagen molecules are strong, ropelike fibers that give
skin structural strength and flexibility. With old age, the
structure of collagen changes, and the skin becomes fragile and
is torn more easily.
ORGANELLE
An organelle is a small structure contained within a cell that
performs one or more specific functions. For example, the
nucleus is an organelle containing the cell’s hereditary
information.

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 CELL

Cells are the basic living units of all plants and animals. Although cell
types differ in their structure and function, they have many
characteristics in common. Knowledge of these characteristics and
their variations is essential to a basic understanding of anatomy and
physiology.

TISSUE

A group of cells with similar structure and function plus extracellular

substances located between them is a tissue. The many tissues that
make up the body are classified into four primary tissue types:
epithelial, connective, muscular , and nervous.
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 ORGAN
Organs are composed of two or more tissue types that together
perform one or more common functions. The skin, stomach, eye,
and heart are examples of organs.
ORGAN SYSTEM

An organ system is a group of organs classified as a unit because of a

common function or set of functions. In this text the body is
considered to have 11 major organ-systems: integumentary,
skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic,
respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive.

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 HOMEOSTASIS
 Homeostasis is the existence and maintenance of a relatively constant
environment within the body.
 Homeostasis is the ability of the body’s systems to maintain a stable,
relatively constant internal environment.
 Homeostasis is the tendency to resist change in order to maintain a
stable, relatively constant internal environment.
 Homeostasis refers to the maintenance of relatively constant internal
conditions. For example, your body shivers to maintain a relatively
constant body temperature when the external environment gets
colder.
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Each cell in the body is surrounded by a small amount of fluid, and
the normal functions of each cell depend on the maintenance of its
fluid environment within a narrow range of conditions, including
volume, temperature, and chemical content.
If the fluid surrounding the cells deviates from homeostasis, the cells
do not function normally and may even die. Disruption of
homeostasis results in disease and possibly death.

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 Negative Feedback
The systems of the body are regulated by negative feedback
mechanisms, which function to maintain homeostasis. “Negative”
means that any deviation from a normal value is made smaller or is
resisted. Negative feedback does not prevent variation but
maintains variation within a normal range.
The maintenance of normal blood pressure is an example of a
negative-feedback mechanism. A blood pressure depends in part
on contraction (beating) of the heart. Normal blood pressure is
important because it is responsible for moving blood from the
heart to tissues.
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The blood supplies the tissues with oxygen and nutrients and
removes waste products. Thus normal blood pressure is required
to ensure that tissue homeostasis is maintained.

If blood pressure increases slightly, negative-feedback mechanisms

decrease heart rate, causing blood pressure to decrease.
If blood pressure decreases slightly, negative-feedback mechanisms
increase heart rate, causing blood pressure to increase.
As a result blood pressure constantly rises and falls within a normal
range of values for blood pressure.

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 Positive Feedback
Positive feedback responses are not homeostatic and are rare in
healthy individuals. “Positive” implies that when a deviation from
a normal value occurs, the response of the system is to make the
deviation even greater. Therefore positive feedback usually
creates “vicious cycle” leading away from homeostasis and in
some cases results in death.
Inadequate delivery of blood to cardiac (heart) muscle is an example
of positive feedback.

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A large decrease in blood pressure causes decreased blood flow to
the heart. The heart is unable to pump enough blood to maintain
blood pressure or adequate blood flow to the heart muscle. Thus
the ability of the heart to pump further decreases, and blood
pressure decreases even more.

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 TERMINOLOGY OF THE BODY PLAN

When you begin to study anatomy and physiology, the number of

new words may seem overwhelming. Learning is easier and more
interesting if you pay attention to the origin, or etymology of new
words.
Most of the terms are derived from Latin or Greek, and the terms are
descriptive in the original language. For example, anterior in Latin
means to go before. Therefore the anterior surface of the body is
the surface of the body that goes before when we are walking.

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 Directional Terms

Directional terms refer to the body in the anatomical position,

regardless of its actual position. The term anatomical position
refers to a person standing erect with the feet forward, arms
hanging to the sides, and the palms of the hands facing forward.
In human anatomy, above is replaced by superior, below by inferior,
front by anterior, and back by posterior.
Directional terms are used to describe the position of structures in
relation to other structures or body parts. For example, the neck is
superior to the chest but inferior to the head.
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 Planes
 Sagittal plane runs vertically through the body and separates it
into right and left parts. The word sagittal refers to the way the
body would be split by an arrow passing anteriorly to posteriorly.
 If the plane divides the body into equal right and left halves, it is a
midsagittal plane.
 A transverse or horizontal plane runs parallel to the surface of
the ground and divides the body into superior and inferior parts.
 A frontal or coronal plane runs vertically from right to left and
divides the body into anterior and posterior parts.
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 Body Regions
A number of terms are used when referring to different regions or
parts of the body.
The upper limb is divided into the arm, forearm, wrist, and hand.

The arm extends from the shoulder to the elbow, and the forearm
extends from the elbow to the wrist.
The lower limb is divided into the thigh, leg, ankle, and foot.
The thigh extends from the hip to the knee, and the leg extends from
the knee to the ankle.

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The central region of the body consists of the head, neck, and trunk.
The trunk can be divided into the thorax (chest), abdomen (region
between the thorax and pelvis), and pelvis (the inferior end of the
trunk associated with the hips).

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 Body Cavities

The body contains many cavities, such as the nasal, cranial, and
abdominal cavities. Some of these cavities open to the outside of
the body, and some do not.
The trunk contains three large cavities: the thoracic cavity, the
abdominal cavity, and the pelvic cavity.
The thoracic cavity is surrounded by the rib cage and is separated
from the abdominal cavity by the muscular diaphragm. It is divided
into right and left parts by a median structure called the
mediastinum.
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The mediastinum is a partition containing the heart, thymus gland,
trachea, esophagus, and other structures. The two lungs are located on
either side of the mediastinum.
The abdominal cavity is bounded primarily by the abdominal muscles and
contains the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys.
The pelvic cavity is a small space enclosed by the bones of the pelvis and
contains the urinary bladder, part of the large intestine, and the
internal reproductive organs.
The abdominal and pelvic cavities are not physically separated and
sometimes are called the abdominopelvic cavity.

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 QUESTIONS
1. Define these terms:
a) Human anatomy and physiology

b) Anatomy
c) Systemic anatomy
d) Regional anatomy

e) Surface anatomy
f) Anatomical imaging

g) Physiology

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h) Human physiology

i) Cellular or systemic physiology

j) Organelle

k) Organ system

l) Homeostasis

2. State four (4) importance of human anatomy and physiology.

3. Draw a diagram about structural and functional organizations.

4. Provide a table showing organ-systems of the body, their major

components and functions.

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5. Give examples of:
a) Homeostasis
b) Negative feedback
c) Positive feedback
6. Complete the following.
d) The teeth is _______________ to the throat.
e) The knee is ____________ to the hip.
f) The nose is ___________ to the forehead.
g) The brain is ______________ to the eyes.
h) The bridge of the nose is _____________ to the eye.
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f) The mouth is __________ to the chin.
g) The elbow is __________ to the wrist.
h) The spine is __________ to the breastbone.

i) The navel is ____________ to the spine.

j) The skin is _____________ to muscle.
k) The nipple is __________ to the breastbone.

6. What are three (3) types of planes?

7. Name three (3) types of body cavities.

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8. What are the anatomical names of the following:

a) Collar bone
b) Forearm

c) Hand
d) Shoulder
e) Neck
f) Pelvis

g) Breastbone
h) Eye

i) Abdomen
j) Waist

k) Thigh
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