Wednesday

Appendix

Before turning to interesting appendix facts, let’s have basic information about this vestigial organ of the body. What is appendix definition? Literally speaking, an appendix is something added on to something else as an appendage. Are you really confused? Have you seen the appendix in the books? The appendix of a book is a collection of specific pages, containing additional information, in the end of the book. In this case, the appendix is added to the regular pages.

According to biological appendix definition, it is a finger like growth at the junction between small and large intestine. It has a blind end which means anything entering into it cannot come back. This organ is of no particular use to humans. However, appendix is still functional in the grazing animals.

It is located at the junction where small and large intestines join each other, i.e. in the right lower abdominal quadrant. Find it somewhere between the top section of the pelvic bone and the navel area. Normally, we cannot determine the exact location of the appendix and even in the scanned image.

However, it is not clearly visible. You can locate this body organ in the specified abdominal chamber,
when the visceral organs in human body are at their normal positions. Physicians refer to such a condition as situs solitus. There is a congenital condition (i.e. situs oppositus) in which there is delocalization or reversing of the internal organs. So, in the rare cases of situs inversus, this vestigial
organ appears on the opposite side of the body.

In human body, the vestigial structure of appendix develops a collection with the cecum of colon. Do you know what side is your appendix on? You can find this tube-shaped pouch in lower right side of your abdomen. It is very small in size and looks like a worm. That is why, you may also call it "Vermiform Appendix" or simply "Vermix" which comes from Latin meaning "worm-shaped"

Resembling a small, hollow, finger-like tube, vermix is blind at one end while the other end opens into cecum of large bowel (or colon). On average, the length is about 11 centimeters, but it varies greatly from person to person, and can enlarge up to 20 cm.

As the free end has no opening, anything entering into it will remain there with no way to come out of it. The stagnation of food will cause inflammation of the organ along with severe pain. Physicians can relieve the symptoms only with its immediate surgical removal, or else the victim may die. 

A well-known disease of appendix is appendicitis. Do you know the appendix causes? In this case, some food particles, passing through gastrointestinal canal, get an accidental entry into this hollow structure with blind end. But there is no way for the food to come out of it.

Thus, the stagnation of organic material produces pus and toxic substances. Consequently, it leads to severe inflammation. If you do not address the condition timely, the swollen tube bursts open. It releases its harmful contents to the sensitive internal organs, and may even cause the death of the victim.

Tongue

Did you ever think that, without the tongue, you would have been unable to taste all the deliciousness of the natural world? Can the scientists create and install such a tool in your body which would make you taste things in the absence of tongue? Maybe the invention of such an instrument is possible, it can never work as perfectly as your natural human tongue.Taking into account the value of human tongue, this small muscular organ in your mouth cavity is a wonderful blessing of nature. In addition to providing a taste of the food, the tongue helps in manipulation of food for mastication. Its third important function is to help in the swallowing of meal.
 As you can observe in the tongue pictures, the human tongue has got a rough texture. It is the presence of tiny bumps, called papillae, all over the dorsal surface of the tongue that make it look so rough. The surfaces of the papillae, on the other hand, contain thousands of taste buds. The taste buds are actually a collection of the nerve-like cells. Nerves develop a connection between taste buds and the brain.

The upper most layer of tissue on the human tongue is that of mucosa. The mucosa keeps it moist. It also makes the tongue a bit slippery to touch.

The ability of tongue to taste food is because of the presence of taste buds on its surface. Meanwhile, different parts of the tongue sense only a specific taste. Different types of receptor cells help to distinguish between various sorts of differently tasting substances, such as sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. On the tip, you will find taste buds for sensing sweet. Bind the apex and along the sides, there are receptors for tasting bitter, sour and salt.

Dorsum – the upper surface of the tongue – contains lots of lingual papillae. The papillae house the taste buds and the taste receptors. These receptors assist in the sensation of taste of different types of dietary components which come into contact with them. They are basically of two types, that is, sweet taste receptors and bitter taste receptors.

In addition to enabling you sense the deliciousness of the food, the human tongue also performs a number of other important functions. For example, the additional tongue function involves the mastication of food and the act of swallowing it. Do you know any other interesting tongue function? The list of the some of the additional functionalities of the tongue is given below:

Thursday

Nose Definition

There are lots of amazing human nose facts which you may not be aware of. Also the human nose has got incredible importance in the life of an individual. For example, according to the nose definition, it serves as a passage for the entry of fresh air into your body. In other words, function of nasal passage is to assist in the process of respiration.
Human life will cease to exist in earthly atmosphere without fresh air. You get oxygen from the fresh air through nose. Here, you can call oxygen as the elixir of life. Across civilizations, man has been in search of good air.

In other words, healthy air is a primitive physiological need for humans. They base their existence on it on earth. But they failed to realize the importance of nose in human body. In addition to useful information, you will also come across various nose facts in this article.

The function of nose in respiratory system is very important. It is responsible for choosing, filtering and inhaling the atmospheric oxygen. The incoming oxygen is in sufficient amount to meet body needs. This article also throws some light on the basic parts of the nose and their functions.

Contributing to Facial Beauty:
Regarding it function, here are some interesting nose facts. Nose is the most prominent and perhaps the first attractive feature of the face. It occupies the central position along the geometrical division of the face. The organ has two chambers which divide in proportion by a septum.

These are the two nose parts. The human nose structure and function is of special interest for the biology students. It truly contributes to the overall beauty of humans.

After its purification, the air enters the middle nose for humidification. Meanwhile, the nasal cavity also warms the air to match body's internal temperature. Here is one of the wonderful nose facts. Before you accuse someone for not trimming his nasal hairs, remember they are inhaling better air than the rest of us.

⇛ A nasal septum separates the nasal cavity to form two equally dividing nostrils.

⇛ The fine hair or cilia in the nose collectively behave like a mechanical filter.

⇛ The atmospheric air is pre-treated to match body's temperature during inhalation.

⇛ The nose and the eyes are made of ethmoid bone. The ethmoid bone is present now
here else in the body other than the eye orbits.

⇛ One of the little interesting nose facts is the presence of Little's area at its interior aspect. This area may cause serious bleeding of no specific reason with constant picking of the nose.

⇛ Depending on their race, the individuals may lose their sense of small with age.

⇛ Which is the oldest sense in your body? Well, it is smell!

⇛ It may be one of the strange nose facts that women have a better sense of smell than that of men.

⇛ If someone has a long nose, they will show a good sense of business and respond positively to your leadership.

Wednesday

Liver Definition

Do you know the secrets about the human liver anatomy? Let’s learn it here. Skin is the largest organ. Whereas, liver is the largest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body. You may wonder "What is liver?" and what a purpose it serves. Precisely, it is one of the most fantastic organs of your body.

Being a glandular structure, it is a group of cells or tissues that secrete or excrete certain substances. However, these secretions have to do their job elsewhere in the body. The largest gland, liver also enjoys the distinction of being the h
ottest organ in your body.


The answer to “What does the liver do?” contains some interesting information. The human liver is, actually, a gland. There is broad classification of glands into two major groups i.e. endocrine and exocrine glands. Interestingly, liver belongs to both of these categories.

That is, it serves as both an endocrine gland as well as an exocrine gland. A normal liver weighs about 1.2 to 1.5 kg and performs both endocrine and exocrine functions. Studying the human liver anatomy, you will also come to know about its size.

Keep on reading this article about the human liver anatomy. Here, you will get useful and interesting information about the liver size, location, function, diseases and risk factors for liver disease.

The human liver size varies across gender. That is, it is bigger in size in male as compared with the one in females. The size of this gland is around 10.5 centimeters for men and about 7 centimeters for women. In the similar way, the weight of this organ is also different in different genders.

The largest internal organ, liver appears in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. It lies just beneath the right side of the diaphragm and under the right lower rib cage. Concerning human liver anatomy, there are eight functional segments in it.

Within a minute, approximately 1500 ml of blood flows through the liver. This is so to ensure its efficient working. Partly due to its ample blood supply, liver is the prime site for metastatic spread of cancer.

Eye Definition

What do you know about the eye definition biology? Just learn about human eye facts and you will get precious information about it. You can define the eye as an organ of vision which makes you visualize the world around you. The eyes are two in number and each is placed inside specialized compartments in the skull.

The human eye is the organ which enables you to see. The human eye does not only let you view the scenes and phenomenon in your surroundings, but also enables you to differentiate between colors. Sometimes, there is a minor defect in the eye function and the individual cannot make difference between the red and green color. What is the name for such a condition? Well, you call it ‘color blindness

Eye function renders you the sense of sight. They convert light into electrical signals. Afterwards, the brain deciphers these electrical signals into images. Properly working healthy eyes are able to perform the following functions.

It is one of the important human eye facts that they help us view our surroundings.

Our eyes enable us to see colors. Certain organisms, such as dogs, cannot see colors and, so, their world is black and white.

Eyes help us see near as well as distant objects.
When we see an object, light is reflected off it into our eyes.

The light rays entering our eyes first pass through the pupil. These are the muscles of iris that control the size of the pupil.

After passing through the pupil, light passes through the transparent lens of the eye. There occurs the refraction and focusing of the light rays on the retina.

Light sensitive cells, rods and cones, present in the retina covert the light rays into electrical impulses. Isn’t it one of the most amazing facts about eyes of human beings.

The optic nerve transfers these electrical impulses from the retina to the brain which then processes these signals and translates them in the form of an image.

Sunday

Thyroid



   

 Thyroid gland is the largest endocrine gland in adult human. Endocrine glands are those that secrete their products directly into the bloodstream. In contrast, most exocrine glands release their secretions through a duct onto an epithelial surface such as skin or mucosa. Thyroid gland is made up of two lateral lobes joined together across midline by a narrow bridge of tissue called isthmus. It is relatively larger in women and children than in men.
Thyroid gland lies in the anterior part of our neck, immediately below the larynx and overlying the trachea (windpipe). A normal thyroid gland weighs between 25 and 40 gm. This butterfly shaped gland is highly vascular so it receives one of the highest rates of blood flow per gram of tissue. Thyroid gland moves with the larynx in swallowing and speaking - this feature helps a healthcare professional to differentiate swellings in the glands from those in the adjacent structures.



Thyroid gland lies in the anterior part of our neck, immediately below the larynx and overlying the trachea (windpipe). A normal thyroid gland weighs between 25 and 40 gm. This butterfly shaped gland is highly vascular so it receives one of the highest rates of blood flow per gram of tissue. Thyroid gland moves with the larynx in swallowing and speaking - this feature helps a healthcare professional to differentiate swellings in the glands from those in the adjacent structures.


Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone synthesis. Dietary intake of about 150 microgram per day mainly in the form of iodide is typical to maintain normal thyroid hormone secretion. In many countries common table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiency. Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of goiter which is considered as one of the thyroid diseases.

⇛ Thyroid hormones are essential for normal growth and maturation. They play crucial role in the development of central nervous system (CNS). The most serious effect of thyroid hormone deficiency during childhood is permanent brain damage and dwarfism.

⇛ Thyroid hormones accelerate cholesterol clearance from the plasma.

⇛ Thyroid hormones are required for conversion of carotene to vitamin A; patients with hypothyroidism may suffer from night blindness.

⇛ Thyroid gland also releases a minor hormone called calcitonin which is involved in calcium and phosphate metabolism. Calcitonin stimulates cartilage growth and causes increased deposition of calcium in the bones therefore promoting bone formation and reducing calcium concentration from the blood.

Wednesday

Spleen

Spleen is the largest lymphatic organ in the human body. Lymphatic or lymphoid organs are the major parts of the immune system of our body. Function of the immune system is to protect the host from the invasion of foreign organisms. Immune system helps the body to distinguish its own tissues from external substances such as bacteria, viruses and toxins. Thus dysfunction or deficiency of components of the immune system can lead to various diseases ranging from arthritis, HIV and cancer.
                               
Spleen weighs about 150 gm in adults and lies under the diaphragm in the left upper part of the abdomen at the level between 9th and 11th ribs. Anterior to the spleen lies stomach and medially lies the superior part of the left kidney. Spleen resembles the size and shape of a clenched fist.

⇛ Spleen participates in the primary immune response to invading bacteria, viruses, parasites or foreign particles. Spleen is a strong defense against blood-borne pathogens. Removal of spleen increases the risk of infection.

⇛ Spleen acts like a filter for the blood; it removes cellular residues, particulate matter, senescent RBCs and other abnormal cells from the bloodstream.

It is the abnormal enlargement of spleen. When the spleen is diseased it can be 10 times larger than its normal size. Causes include:

⇛ parasitic infection such as malaria, kala azar
⇛ chronic tuberculosis
⇛ typhoid, septic shock, infective endocarditis
⇛ rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus
⇛ portal hypertension, liver diseases
⇛ lymphomas, anemia, leukemia