1. Welcome to Anatomy and Physiology
Andrea’s 1st Period, Spring 2018

2. What is Anatomy and Physiology?
Anatomy is the study of structure and the relationship between body parts; the investigation of the human body
Physiology is the study of the function of the body parts
In short, Anatomy and Physiology is the study of our bodies and how they work

3. There are specialized areas with anatomy and physiology, and some are:
Gross Anatomy – the study of body parts visible to the naked eye
Histology – the study of tissues at the microscopic level
Cytology – the study of cells at the microscopic level
Neurophysiology – the study of how the nervous system works
But the study of the human body is seemingly infinite, and there are equally infinite specialty areas within the broader field of Anatomy and Physiology

4. Relationship between Anatomy and Physiology Anatomy and Physiology are always related . Structure determines what functions can take place. For example, the lungs are not muscular chambers like the heart and can not pump blood, but because the walls of lungs are very thin, they can exchange gasses and provide oxygen to the body. Structure detErmines FUNCTION: no wings no fly, no legs no walk………you get the idea, but this is true on a macroscopic level

5. Characteristics of Life; All living things display these characteristics:
Growth - when an organism increases in cell size, type, and/or number
Metabolism – all the necessary cellular processes that allow the aspects of life to occur; uses energy
Organization – when an organism is structured into interrelated and interdependent parts to perform specific functions
Differentiation – organisms all start as a similar cell type (stem cell) and with cascading cellular signals cells grow into different specific types with unique functions
Reproduction – when an organism can produce new cells and new organisms
Response to Environment – sensing changes in the environment and altering feedback mechanisms to remain within homeostatic range
**Functions such as eating, breathing, producing waste in the scope of our course will now fall under metabolism

6. Organization of Living Systems
Chemical Level - atoms make up molecules
Cellular Level – macromolecules make up cells
Tissue Level – groups of similar cells performing a common function, ie: muscle tissue
Organ Level – different kinds of tissues working together to perform a particular activity/function
ie: the heart is made up of muscle, nervous, connective, and epithelial tissue
Organ System Level – two or more organs working together to accomplish a particular task.
ie: The digestive system involves the coordinated work of many organs to absorb nutrients and water and eliminate unusable parts of our food
Organism Level – multiple system possessing the characteristics of living things: the ability to obtain and process energy, respond to environmental changes, grow, reproduce, respire, perform specialized functions, excrete waste

8. The human body functions within a range of parameters, such as internal and external temperatures, pH, nutrient levels, oxygen levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, sleep levels, and many, many more
When all the body parameters are within a functional range, the body is in Homeostasis.
Homeostasis
Describes the body’s ability to maintain relatively stable internal conditions even though the outside world is continuously changing
The literal translation of homeostasis is “unchanging,”( homeo= the same, stasis = standing still which is not true).

9. How does the body keep its systems in the functional range when external conditions change?
Homeostatic conditions are most often maintained by something called feedback
There are two main types of feedback mechanisms, positive and negative. These feedback mechanisms are very complex and sophisticated, and involve multiple systems but primarily the endocrine system
Positive Feedback – an action perpetuates and increases a condition. This is less common than negative feedback. Examples: lactation and blood clotting
Negative Feedback – when a sensory mechanism (receptors) detects a change in parameter beyond ideal limits, and signals a second mechanism to correct the condition. Conditions are constantly monitored by sensory receptors, and when corrective measures have restored normal parameters, action is discontinued. In negative feedback, a variant condition is cancelled, or negated (mitigated). Examples: glucose concentration (a famous well studied, although not as well understood as science once may have thought….)

10. Science and medicine uses these feedbacks loops as a primary mechanism for drug administration. Most drugs administered are in some way influencing the feedback mechanisms and attempting to restore homeostasis.
Famous example; the vast multitude of blood pressure medications, each family of drugs entering and impacting the system in a unique way to ‘mitigate’ or ‘fix’ the problem.
Andrea’s qualifying statement: The real problem, however, is that pharmaceutical drugs inevitably have more than the intended consequence, and often silently cause more problems than the medical community is aware of or wishes to acknowledge. As your teacher, and without any scientific citations at this time to lend credibility to this statement, I would advise every human to maintain optimal human parameters without medication of any kind – a quality of life and longevity are associated with a life style that remains drug free into the golden years

11. Positive Feedback Mechanism

12. Negative Feedback Mechanism