HUMAN BODY SYSTEMS

The human body is a combination of parts and systems that work

together to perform the necessary functions of life. Each system in the human
body has a special function. Each of these systems also interact with each
other.

Respiratory system

The main part of the respiratory system is the lungs. It is the lungs’ job to
bring air into and out of the body. Oxygen from the air you inhale moves
through small blood vessels and enters the bloodstream. It then hitches a ride
on red blood cells and travels to all parts of the body.

The blood coming back to the lungs contains carbon dioxide. When you
exhale, you remove carbon dioxide which your body does not need anymore.

Digestive system

The digestive system breaks down food to release nutrients. Digestion

begins when we break food down into little pieces in our mouth with the help
of teeth, the tongue and saliva.

After that, food travels down the esophagus and into the stomach,
where it’s further broken down by stomach acids.

From the stomach, it heads to the small intestine. Here, your body
removes nutrients it needs from food, and sends the nutrients to parts of the
body through the circulatory system. Finally, the digested food is sent to the
large intestine, out of your body.

Circulatory system

The circulatory system pumps blood through your body. The circulatory
system consists of your heart and blood vessels. The heart’s job is to pump
blood throughout your body.

The left side of the heart takes oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and
pumps it to other parts of the body to use. The right side of the heart pumps
blood to the lungs to add oxygen to it.
 The heart has a very busy job! When you are resting, your heart pumps
between 60-100 times each minute. When you are exercising, it pumps much
faster to deliver blood to your muscles.

The heart is responsible for getting the oxygen to your muscles, but it is
the respiratory system’s job to provide the oxygen. This means that the
circulatory system is directly linked to the respiratory system.

Muscular system

The muscular system allows the body to move. You have over 600
muscles in your body. Muscles are attached to bones and are controlled by
nerves that communicate with the brain (nervous system). Movement takes
place when a muscle gets shorter (contracts).

Most muscles work in pairs, allowing movement in more than one

direction. For instance, there are two sets of muscles that move your arm.
When you lift your arm up, your bicep contracts. At the same time, the muscle
on the back of your arm, called the tricep, relaxes.

Nervous system

The nervous system controls everything you do, including breathing,

walking, thinking, and feeling. This system is made up of your brain, spinal
cord, and all the nerves of your body. The brain is the control center and the
spinal cord is the major highway to and from the brain. The nerves carry the
messages to and from the body, so the brain can interpret them and take
action.

Skeletal system

The human skeletal system has more than 200 bones. The hard, stiff
bones of the skeleton support the whole body. The skeleton also protects the
soft organs inside the body. In addition, the skeleton works with the muscles to
allow the body to move.

The most basic job of the skeletal system is support. For example, the
spine, or vertebral column, supports the entire upper part of the body. The
human spine lets people stand and walk in an upright position, or posture.
Excretory system

The excretory system filters your blood to remove wastes that could be
harmful to your body. The kidneys are the blood filters that make urine. Urine
passes through the ureters to reach the bladder, which is the temporary
storage organ for urine. Urine leaves the body through the urethra.

Skeleton

A skeleton is the hard structure that supports the body of a living thing.
Skeletons can be inside the body. In mammals, which include humans, the
skeleton is made of bones. All the bones, when they are joined together, make
the "skeletal system" of a body. The skeletal system or "skeleton" is under
the skin, the muscle and the tissue of the body. The skeleton supports the skin,
muscle and tissue, and all the organs that are inside the body. The skeleton
protects important internal organs like the brain, heart and lungs. If humans
did not have a skeleton then the body would be flat as the skeleton gives the
body its frame.

Sensory organs

Eyes (Sense of Sight): a good sense of sight is achieved by healthy eyes. Eyes
are the organs of the visual system. Eyes provide vision and the sense of sight
to human beings, animals, birds, fishes, etc. Human beings can have various
eye colors depending on the amount of melanin present in one’s body. The eye
color can vary from brown to blue. However, eyes are sensitive to light.

Nose (Sense of Smell): the organ for the sense of smell is the nose. Nose has
nostrils, we breathe in through nostrils. The olfactory system is responsible for
our sense of smell and the nose is also known as an olfactory organ. Usually,
animals have a stronger sense of smell than human beings. However, human
beings can also smell thousands of various odors and fragrances.

Ears (Sense of Hearing): the organ for the sense of hearing is ears. Hearing is
the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as
the ear. Total or partial ability to hear is known as hearing loss. For example,
we can listen to nature sounds or music through headphones.

Skin (Sense of Touch): the organ for the sense of touch is skin. Skin is the
largest organ as it is located throughout the human body. Various receptors
are used for different situations like pain, temperature, pressure, etc. For
example, when we touch something hot like a hot cup of tea or coffee, we
instantly move our hands away from it.

Tongue (Sense of Tasting): the organ for the sense of taste is the tongue. The
tongue has various receptors which can detect whether the item consumed is
salty, sweet, bitter or sour. The behind part of the tongue detects bitter taste,
the frontmost part detects salty taste, the side part detects sour taste and the
middle and front part detects sweet taste.

Sensory receptors

Sensory organs like the eye, nose, tongue, skin and ear have something
in common, sensory receptors. Sensory receptors detect changes in the
environment. Olfactory receptors (chemoreceptors) are located in the nose
and pick different types of smell. Gustatory receptors (chemoreceptors)are
located in our tongue and they pick up different flavors. Rods and cones are
photoreceptors located in our eyes which help us to see dim light and bright
light and colors, respectively. The hair cells (mechanoreceptors) located in the
cochlea, inner-ear, are the sensory nerves or receptors for hearing. In our
skin, sensory receptor are Merkel cells (mechanoreceptors) that detect touch
and thermal receptors that detect hot and cold.

All sensory receptors pick up information from the environment around

us, or about the state of our internal environment and send messages to the
nervous system.

Mechanical receptors

A mechanical receptor or mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor

that responds to touch or mechanical pressure. The hair cells located in the
cochlea, inner-ear, is a mechanical receptor because they register movement
and help with our sense of balance. Merkel cells are also mechanical receptor
since they can detect touch or pressure.

How body parts work together?

The human body is made up of multiple interacting systems. These body

systems work together to perform the necessary functions of life. For instance,
the heart is part of the circulatory system. Its job is to pump blood throughout
your body. The left side of your heart takes blood from the lungs, filled with
oxygen, and carries it off to your other body systems to use. At the same time,
blood that doesn´t have much oxygen in it is returned to the right side of your
heart where´s pumped back to the lungs for an oxygen fill up. The circulatory
system is directly linked to the respiratory system. It´s the respiratory system
´s job to put more oxygen into your bloodstream. The respiratory system
helps us breath in air, absorb oxygen into the bloodstream and then exhale
carbon dioxide. In other words, the respiratory system helps you get oxygen,
and the circulatory system helps you move the oxygen in your blood to other
parts of your body.

In order for a person to walk, run or do any physical activity, it takes the
use of another key system, the muscular system. There are over 600 muscles
in your body. When a muscle gets shorter or contracts, it allows you to move.
Muscles comes in pair to help movement. When one muscle contracts, the
other relaxes, and vice-versa allowing your arms and/or legs to move. The
more you exercise, the more your muscles will contract and relax, your heart
beat will increase so your heart and lungs will start sending more oxygenated
blood to all parts of the body.

Digestion starts when we break food into little pieces in our mouth and
saliva breaks it even more. Then, it reaches our stomach where stomach acids
smash it further more before arriving to the small intestine. As food is broken
down even more, the small intestine takes all the nutrients from your food.
The waste that remains go to the large intestine and out of your body. So, once
our food is broken down by our digestive system, the nutrients go to our
circulatory system which sends them to all our body systems.