ANATOMY 8
Running head: ANATOMY 1
Anatomy
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Institutional Affiliation
Anatomy
The essential function of the lymphatic vessels is that they act as reservoirs for plasma and other substances like cells that have leaked from the vascular system (Baluk et al. 2007). They also transport lymph fluid back from the tissues to the circulatory system. The lymph nodes on the other hand lymph nodes act as checkpoints for the immune system. Each lymph node is connected its neighbors by lymphatic vessels, and each node acts as a sentry to protection from diseases. They filter the lymph to identify and fight any infection by assisting the immune system to be responsive.
The particular function of the tonsils is to prevent foreign bodies from finding their way to the lungs. They can filter viruses and bacteria. They have immune cells which produce antibodies which helps to keep germs and lung infections at bay. Taking the tonsils out is not a good idea because doing so would expose the lungs and throat to infections which would lead to diseases (Baluk et al., 2007).
The mucus is found in the nose, mouth, digestive tract and the reproductive tract and they help to destroy bacteria and viruses, lubricates the movement of materials, traps particles like the dart and prevents water loss. Lysozyme is an enzyme found in fluids such as tears, saliva, and sweat and it helps to destroy the bacteria that try to enter the body through such passageways. Keratin is a protein found in hair, skin, and nails and is responsible for the growth of hair. It makes the hair to be healthy and robust. Acid PH is the level of alkalinity or acidity. The common acid is Hydrochloric acid found in the stomach which helps to kill bacteria which could attack the stomach. Cilia are hair-like projections found in the lungs and help to sweep dirt from it.
An inflammatory response is the body’s evidence of the presence of an irritant. The irritant can be a germ or a foreign object. The red inflammation occurs because when inflammation occurs in the body, many cells are involved and they release inflammatory mediators. They cause the small blood vessels in the tissue to dilate allowing more blood to reach the injured part. Therefore, the inflamed areas turn red. Due to no small amount of blood entering the sore area, the area becomes hot. The area becomes painful due to the expansion of tissues and swollen because of the increased amount of blood and proteins present. The icing is not a good thing for use for an injury because it impedes the healing process by interfering with the healing process. When it is applied to the injured area, it prevents the release of hormones that help in healing and ultimately delays healing. The icing is just a pain reliever (analgesic) and not an actual treatment; thus it does not fix anything (Baluk et al., 2007).
The purpose of increasing the body temperature with fever is to raise the temperature of the body enough to kill some bacteria and viruses which are sensitive to temperature changes. Lowering fever with anti-inflammatory drugs can lead to infections because fevers boost the immune system to fight off injection. Thus, fever itself is a cure rather than a sign of disease.
An antigen can be defined as any substance that can stimulate/trigger/evoke the production of antibodies for immune response. An antigen can either be a peptide, protein or a polysaccharide. The difference between a complete antigen and an incomplete antigen is that the latter cannot induce an immune response while the former is sufficient enough to induce a full immune response (Altman et al., 1996).
Humoral immunity is also called antibody-mediated response involves B cells that recognize antigens that circulate in the blood. The cell-mediated response involves mainly T cells that recognize any cell that displays MHC markers, including cells invaded by pathogens or tumor cells. Lymphocytes are essential cells in the immune system which become specialized into T cells and B cells. The function of B lymphocytes is to attack invaders outside the cells while the role of the T lymphocytes is to attack invaders inside the cells. B cells hijack invaders as they travel in the blood (Altman et al., 1996).
Natural immunity is said to occur when an individual is exposed to a live pathogen, develops the disease and eventually becomes as a result of the primary immune response. On the other hand, artificial immunity is induced by a vaccine or any other substance that contains an antigen. I would rather have active immunity because the body makes its antibodies and the protection is longer than that of passive immunity. The reason why T cells are very crucial for resistance is that after the T cells identify the invader, they perform varied jobs in the body. Some of them send chemical instructions to the rest of the immune system while others kill virus-infected cells directly. This is why without T cells there is no immunity.
The role of helper T cells is to help activate B cells to secrete antibodies and also help activate cytotoxic T cells to kill infected target cells (Davis & Bjorkmans, 1988). The function of killer T cells is to destroy target cells when activated explicitly by the helper T cells. Suppressor T cells are essential in regulating immune responses and mediating of dominant immunologic tolerance. The helper T cells are the one which is thought to disable in AIDS. Without helper T cells AIDS patients cannot defend themselves against many harmless microbes.
An allergy occurs when a person’s immune system reacts to substances in the environment that are not harmful to most people. It is an abnormal reaction of the body to substances called allergens which include food substances, pollen, ticks, mites, and some medicines. In immediate allergies, the onset of symptoms occurs within some minutes after exposure while delayed allergies the symptoms occur within one to three days upon exposure. Immediate allergies lead to conditions such as asthma and high fever while delayed allergies lead to diseases such as contact dermatitis. The drugs used to treat immediate allergies are adrenergic and antihistamine drugs while the medications used for treating delayed allergies are corticosteroids (Davis & Bjorkman, 1988).
Some of the events that can lead to loss of self-tolerance and autoimmune diseases are lack of clonal deletion or the activation of developing lymphocytes. An example of an autoimmune disease is Type 1 diabetes caused when the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The other condition is Rheumatoid arthritis which occurs when the immune system attacks the joints. The third disease is the Vasculitis which occurs when the immune system attacks blood vessels. These diseases can be treated by taking immune-suppressing drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. Corticosteroids can also be used to suppress the immune system, and control inflammation hence is a good medication for curing autoimmune diseases.
Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the interaction between psychological processes, the immune and nervous systems of the body. Ader et al., 1995 defines Psychoneuroimmunology as the study of interactions between neural, behavior and endocrine function and immune processes. It is for real because the brain communicates with the immune system through the autonomic nervous system which generates signals that are perceived by the immune system through receptors in lymphocytes (Ader et al., 1993).
ANATOMY OF THE HEART
- Right atrium.
QUESTION 2
Aorta
Pulmonary artery
Pulmonary vein
Left atrium
Mitral valve
Left ventricle
Left semilunar valve
Septum
Right semilunar valve
Inferior vena cava
The two sounds heard represent the systole and diastole. A “lub dub” is the sound produced by the heart when heart valves close.
A murmur is a sound during the heartbeat cycle. Some of the possible causes of murmurs are pregnancy and high blood pressure. They can be life-threatening because they indicate an underlying heart problem. Some of them are however harmless (innocent) and don’t need treatment. If you have a heart murmur, it is essential to see the doctor to tell you whether the murmur is innocent or if the murmur indicates an underlying problem of the heart which would necessitate treatment.
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) occurs when the mitral valve fails to close completely(correctly) when the left ventricle contracts. Failure of the flaps of the mitral valve to close successfully makes the valve bulge into the atrium. The stages of mitral regurgitation are the compensated stage, the transitional phase, and the decompensated stage (Ader et al., 1995).
An athlete can play with MVP because physical exercise widens the blood vessels which improves blood flow.
Echocardiograms are tests whereby ultrasound is used to examine the heart. Doppler examination is a unique part of the ultrasound examination that is used to assess the blood flow. They help to diagnose the problems of cardiomyopathy (poor pumping), problems associated with the pumping function of the heart, valve function, congenital heart diseases, tumors, and blood clots.
An echocardiogram is used to diagnose mitral valve prolapse by identifying the thickness, structure, and movement of each heart valve. If there are sounds from the heart (murmurs), then there is MVP and vice versa.
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood to other body parts. It can lead to heart failure. Hank Gathers, an American basketball player collapsed and died during a game. After an autopsy, it was found that he died of a heart-muscle disorder called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This condition is dangerous because it can lead to death through heart failure.
References
Ader, R., & Cohen, N. (1993). Psychoneuroimmunology: conditioning and stress. Annual review of psychology, 44(1), 53-85.
Altman, J. D., Moss, P. A., Goulder, P. J., Barouch, D. H., McHeyzer-Williams, M. G., Bell, J. I., … & Davis, M. M. (1996). Phenotypic analysis of antigen-specific T lymphocytes. Science, 274(5284), 94-96.
Baluk, P., Fuxe, J., Hashizume, H., Romano, T., Lashnits, E., Butz, S. & McDonald, D. M. (2007). Functionally specialized junctions between endothelial cells of lymphatic vessels. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 204(10), 2349-2362.
Davis, M. M., & Bjorkman, P. J. (1988). T-cell antigen receptor genes and T-cell recognition. Nature, 334(6181), 395.