Anatomy Essentials For Dummies

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Where to Go from Here 3 Chapter 1: Focusing on the Framework of Anatomy and Physiology 5 Looking at the Science of Anatomy and Physiology 6 Fitting anatomy and physiology into science 6 Breaking down the subsets of anatomy 6 Familiarizing Yourself with Anatomical Jargon 7 Arranging Organisms by Levels of Organization 10 Level I: The cellular level 10 Level II: The tissue level 10 Level III: The organ level 12 Level IV: The organ system level 12 Level V: The organism level 12 Metabolism: Keeping Body Processes in Motion 12 Seeing why your cells metabolize 13 Understanding the process behind cellular metabolism 14 Balancing Bodily Reactions with Homeostasis 18 Regulating body temperature 18 Maintaining a fluid balance 19 Examining blood glucose concentration 20 Gauging variables that keep the body balanced 21 Chapter 2: Examining Cell Biology Basics 23 How Cells Spend Their Time 23 Creating new cells 24 Manufacturing tissues 24 Constructing and moving products 24 Transmitting signals around the body 25 Exploring Eukaryotic Cells 25 Enclosing it all with the cell membrane 27 Relinquishing control to the nucleus 29 Giving the organelles a place to hang in the cytoplasm 29 Seeing how mitochondria provide energy to cells 29 Producing protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) 30 Taking out the trash with lysosomes 30 Macromolecules, the Building Blocks of Life 31 Naming the nucleic acids and nucleotides 31 Energizing organisms with polysaccharides 32 Peeking at proteins 32 Discovering How Genetic Material Makes You Who You are 33 Cycling through Life, Cell-Style 34 Progressing through interphase 34 Pushing ahead to DNA replication 34 Entering mitosis 35 Forming Tissues from Cells 37 Linking structures with connective tissue 37 Reviewing types of epithelial tissue 38 Chapter 3: Scoping Out the Body’s Structural Layers 41 The Skinny on Your Skeleton 42 Examining the skeleton’s makeup 42 Surveying joints and their movements 45 The 411 on the Muscular System 48 Seeing what your skeletal muscles do 48 Taking a look at tissue types 51 Making muscles contract: The sliding filament model 56 An Introduction to the Integument 58 Studying up on the structure of the integument 59 Accessorizing your skin 62 Chapter 4: Getting to the Heart of the Circulatory System 65 Analyzing the Cardiac Anatomy 65 Examining the shape of the heart 66 Looking at the heart’s tissues 68 Observing how blood flows to (and from) the heart 69 Meet Your Blood Vessels 70 Beginning at the arteries 71 Moving on to the capillaries 72 Traveling through the veins 74 Discovering What’s in Your Blood 76 Plasma: Your protein carrier 76 Red blood cells: In charge of moving O2 and CO2 77 Platelets: The clotting cells 78 White blood cells: The body’s defenders 78 Focusing on the Physiology of Circulation 78 The cardiac cycle: Conducting electricity 79 On the beating path: Blood flow through the heart and body 81 Measuring the importance of blood pressure 83 Hemostasis: Stopping the flow 84 Chapter 5: Taking a Deep Breath with the Respiratory System 85 Surveying the Duties of the Respiratory System 85 Nosing around Your Respiratory Anatomy 86 An entrance to the system: The nose 87 Passing through the pharynx 87 Winding through the windpipe, or trachea 88 The lungs: The pair that just don’t quit 89 Exchanging gases at the respiratory membrane 90 The comptroller of ventilation: The diaphragm 91 Discovering the Ins and Outs of Breathing 92 Breathing under normal conditions 92 Seeing how stress affects breathing 94 Controlling your breathing 94 Chapter 6: Getting on Track with the Digestive System 97 Your Digestive System in a Nutshell 98 Moving through the Structures of the Digestive Tract 99 Allowing entry: The mouth 99 Sending food to the stomach: The pharynx and esophagus 100 Lining it up: The walls 101 Breaking it all down: The stomach 102 Importing and exporting: The intestines 103 Doing the Chemical Breakdown 105 The liver 106 The pancreas 108 Digestive fluids, enzymes, and hormones 109 Chapter 7: Passing through the Urinary System 111 Running Down the Urinary System’s Responsibilities 111 Surveying the Structures of the Urinary System 113 Creating urine: The kidneys 113 Holding and releasing: The urinary tract 115 The Yellow River 117 Looking at the composition of urine 117 Filtering the blood 118 Reabsorbing selectively 119 Expelling urine 120 Maintaining Homeostasis 120 Connecting fluid balance and blood pressure 121 Regulating blood pH 122 Chapter 8: Making Babies: The Reproductive System 125 Surveying the Functions of the Reproductive System 125 Making Gametes 126 Crossing over with meiosis 127 Producing female gametes: Ova 127 Developing male gametes: Sperm 129 Merging ova and sperm to determine sex 129 The Egg-citing Female Reproductive System 130 A woman’s reproductive organs 130 A woman’s (approximately) monthly cycle 133 Furthering Fertilization: The Male Reproductive System 136 A man’s reproductive organs 137 Seminal fluid and ejaculation 138 Pausing for Pregnancy 139 Achieving fertilization 139 Succeeding with implantation 140 Adapting to pregnancy 140 Going through labor and delivery 142 Chapter 9: Exploring the Nervous, Endocrine, and Immune Systems 143 Controlling it All: The Nervous System 144 Surveying the neural tissues 144 Traveling the integrated networks 147 Sending Messages Chemical-Style with the Endocrine System 149 Homing in on hormones 150 Grouping the glands 152 Defending Your “Self” with the Immune System 155 Loving Your Lymphatic System 156 Identifying immune system cells 158 Chapter 10: Ten Phabulous Physiology Phacts 161 Only Humans Have Opposable Thumbs 161 Human Milk is the Best Milk 162 You’re (Surprisingly) as Hairy as a Gorilla 162 You Can Process Fear and Emotion 163 You Smell Like You See 163 Your Mouth is More Efficient Than a Chimp’s 164 Millions of Microbes Owe You Their Lives 164 Oxygen Can be Dangerous 164 You Can Control Your Breathing but Fido Can’t 165 Hemoglobin Dominates Your Red Blood Cells 166 Index 167