XBHA2103

HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Assignment
Question 1
a) The human body consists of complex systems and pathways. There are plenty of signals,
nutrient transportations, metabolism and other activities taking place in our body at every
second, even during sleep. In order to conduct these activities, every cell in the human body
needs plenty of energy. Food is the source of basic nutrients for all living organisms but the
energy needed for cellular activity is not exclusive to food intake alone but there are other
interrelated mechanisms involved such as respiration, digestion and cardiovascular circulation
system. There is need for an adequate balance in all these systems in order to keep the cellular
activities at maximum.
Respiration is the process whereby air inhalation and exhalation through nose or mouth,
down to the trachea, lungs and to the alveoli. Alveoli are clusters of tiny air sacs in the lungs
where gaseous exchange takes place. Gaseous exchange is the process of exchanging oxygen and
carbon dioxide gases. The alveoli walls are ultra-thin (single cell layer), and are surrounded by
plenty of blood capillaries which are also ultra-thin, making the process of gaseous exchange
between the respiratory system and blood circulation system rapid and easy. Oxygen diffuses
through alveoli into the capillaries, thus attaches to hemoglobin of erythrocytes (red blood cells)
and then circulated by the cardiovascular system throughout the whole body (Dawson, 1974).
Respiration also takes place at each cell of our body where the oxygen rich blood capillaries
exchanges oxygen to carbon dioxide at cell membranes and the carbon dioxide rich blood is
circulated to the lungs where carbon dioxide and water are released through exhalation. The
blood circulation or cardiovascular system consists of heart which constantly pumps the blood
throughout human body, arteries which carries oxygenated blood from lungs and heart to all the
cells, veins which carries deoxygenated or carbon dioxide rich blood from the cells to the heart
and lungs, and blood capillaries where exchange of gases and nutrients takes place at the alveoli
and all the cells as well as connecting the arteries and veins (Tobin, 1973).
Digestion system is closely related to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of
human body. Balanced food diet consists of nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
vitamins and fiber. The human digestive system breaks down the food that is consumed through
mouth into classes of molecules such as glucose, amino acid, lipids and so on for them to be
absorbed into the bloodstream, to be delivered to all the cells in human body. The process of
digestive system consists of ingestion where the food is consumed orally, then digestion which
starts at the mouth itself through the help of enzymes and continues through the stomach and
intestines where food is further chemically broken into molecules, followed by absorption where
the nutrient molecules are absorbed via the intestines into the bloodstream to provide energy to
each cell, and finally elimination or excretion where solid waste is passed from the digestive
system out of the body (Windelspecht, 2004).
Cardiovascular system eventually carries the oxygenated blood along with nutrients from
digested food to all the cells in human body. Cellular respiration occurs at this time where an
exchange between oxygen / carbon dioxide and nutrients / waste metabolites takes place. The
absorbed oxygen and nutrients provides energy to the cells. An equation for the cellular
respiration is given as:
Glucose + Oxygen = Energy + Carbon dioxide + Water
Energy is used for cellular activities whereas the carbon dioxide and water will be excreted
through respiratory system during exhalation (Brooks, 1975). This explains how the respiratory,
digestive and cardiovascular systems are interrelated. Therefore it is important for these three
systems to be in equilibrium in order to maintain a healthy human body.
b) Human digestive system involves a few organs and enzymes. Digestion is a process of
breaking down food into smaller molecules of nutrients to produce energy sufficient enough for
cellular activities, metabolism, maintenance and growth. Food digestion eventually produces
waste materials that are needed to be excreted from the body. The human digestive system or
gastrointestinal tract begins from the mouth and ends at the anus. In between there are muscles
and important organs such as the stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas and intestines that
produces many enzymes and hormones to breakdown food (Windelspecht, 2004). Shown below
is the labeled diagram of a human gastrointestinal tract.

Figure 1: The human gastrointestinal tract

Nasi lemak is a traditional Malaysian food which contains coconut rice, fried anchovy,
fried peanuts, fried or boiled egg, sliced cucumber and gravy of chili. Therefore the nutrient
content of nasi lemak is high carbohydrate, fats, protein and very small amount of fiber (sliced
cucumber). The digestion of nasi lemak in the human gastrointestinal tract is discussed further.
The digestion begins at the mouth where saliva is produced before and during chewing of food.
Saliva contains an enzyme called amylase which breaks starch or carbohydrate content of food
into smaller molecules (Anderson, 1984). The food proceeds through the esophagus tract in a
wave like action called peristalsis down to the stomach. The stomach is the place for further
digestion with enzymes such as pepsin, rennin and hydrochloric acid in a combination known as
gastric juice. This is where the protein content of nasi lemak is further broken into digested
proteins and the whole solid food is ground into a liquid or paste form. The food then passes
through duodenum, the beginning of small intestine, where bile containing bile salts is excreted
from the liver to break fats into emulsified fat droplets. At the same time, pancreatic juice
containing enzymes protease (trypsin), lipase and amylase are secreted to further digest proteins
into peptides / amino acids, bile emulsified fats into fatty acids / glycerols and starch into
maltose. Peristalsis moves the food paste into further digestion at the small intestines where
enzymes such as peptidase, sucrase, lactase and maltase which breaks peptides into amino acids,
maltose into glucose and other starch products into glucose. The small intestine consists of
numerous blood vessels, large hormone network and muscles where the completely digested
food nutrients are absorbed through the muscle walls into bloodstream to be distributed
throughout the body. The leftover waste food product that is left in the small intestines is moved
to the large intestines or colon via peristalsis. Numerous bacteria live in the large intestine which
helps the synthesis of vitamins and processing the waste food. The waste in liquid form is
changed to solid as it passes through the large intestine since the water content is reabsorbed
through the walls of large intestine. Then the solid waste moves to the rectum with a little help
from fiber content, where it is held until defecation happens through the anus out of the body
(Saladin and Kenneth, 2001).
This is the complete digestion process of nasi lemak. The whole process takes around
few hours from mouth to anus depending on individual rate of metabolism. It is important for all
the organs to function properly in order for a complete digestion to take place and to maintain a
healthy body. Consumption of high fiber diet is recommended since fibers are indigestible and
helps the movement of waste products in the large intestine. Hence it is important to consume a
balanced food diet to keep all the organs functioning well and to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Question 2
a) The human cardiovascular system consists mainly of formed elements of blood and
plasma. The formed elements of blood consist of red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells
(leukocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes). The functions of blood includes supplying oxygen to
the cells, supplying nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and so on to cells, removing waste
materials such as carbon dioxide, urea and lactic acid from cells, immunological functions
through supplementation of white blood cells and antibodies to defend against foreign
substances, messenger and signaling by transporting hormones and enzymes, initiating
coagulation at broken blood vessels, regulating body temperature and hydraulic functions.
Shown below is the diagram of formed elements of blood (Anderson, 1984).

Figure 2: Formed elements of blood Figure 3: Types of white blood cells

The red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and make up more than 95% of the
blood which is why our blood is red in color. Red blood cells are biconcave shaped to maximize
the transportation of oxygen. It also contains hemoglobin, a quaternary protein structure, which
carries an iron group expressing the red color. Oxygen molecules attach to the hemoglobin of red
blood cells and later dissociates upon increased carbon dioxide concentration at the cells.
Platelets are the smallest formed element of blood which is derived from larger cells called
megakaryocytes. Phospholipids and fibrinogens initiated by platelets acts to coagulate blood at
damaged blood vessels followed by repair mechanism, thus preventing excessive blood loss.
White blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and act as the defensive mechanism in our
blood. White blood cells can be divided to granulocytes which contain granules in cytoplasm and
agranulocytes which lacks granules in cytoplasm. Granulocytes comprises of neutrophils,
basophils and eosinophils, whereas agranulocytes comprises of lymphocytes and monocytes
(Abbas and Lichtman, 2009). All five white blood cells are shown in Figure 3.
Immune activation against foreign substances or pathogens is done by these white blood
cells. There are two types of immune response namely innate immune response and adaptive
immune response. Each white blood cell has its own function in the immune system. Neutrophils
are responsible for destruction of bacteria or pathogens through phagocytosis and releasing of
chemicals that inhibit the growth of bacteria. Eosinophils functions to destroy allergens and
inflammatory mediators, and release enzymes that destroy parasites. Basophils functions to
secrete histamines to increase blood flow through dilating blood vessels at the site of infection
and also secrete heparin which prevents blood coagulation to increase the progression of other
white blood cells to the infected site. Lymphocytes are present at fibrous connective tissues and
in the blood circulation which functions to destroy virus infected cells, cancerous cells and
foreign invading cells. They also present antigens to initiate the adaptive and innate immune
response through secretion of antibodies, activate other white blood cells responsible and serve
in immune memory for future immune response. Monocytes are large formed elements which
functions to digest bacteria, pathogens, dead neutrophils and other cell debris through
phagocytosis upon differentiating into macrophages. Similar to lymphocytes, monocytes also
present antigens to initiate immune response by signaling other white blood cells to the site of
infection (Krstic, 2013).
The formed elements of blood play important roles in the cardiovascular system and act
as the immune system of human body. It is important to maintain a healthy environment for our
body in order to maximize the functions of blood cells. White blood cells play important roles of
immune response in human body to constantly fight against bacterial, viral and other infections.
A small defect in the immune system could cause fatal effects to our internal organs and to the
whole body, eventually causing death.
b) Heart is the most important organ of the cardiovascular system and also for the whole
human body. It acts as a blood pump to circulate oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.
Currently, heart disease is known as the No. 1 killer in the world. Once the heart stops
functioning, blood circulation will be blocked hence all the cells in the body will be drained of
energy which leads to death. Heart disease comprises of a range of conditions, beginning with
blood vessel diseases such as coronary heart disease, abnormal heart rhythm conditions and
congenital heart defects (Esselstyn, 2007). Coronary heart disease and abnormal heart rhythm
can be prevented as they develop from external conditions and behavior but congenital heart
defects could not be prevented because they are birth defects and could be related to genetics or
inheritance.
Coronary heart disease which is the most common type of heart disease occurs when the
coronary arteries which supplies oxygenated blood to the heart muscles become narrowed or
blocked by accumulation of cholesterol or fats in the artery walls (atherosclerosis). Due to lack
of energy, the heart muscles stop pumping blood which causes cardiac arrest. Initially when the
blood flow is reduced, there will be a feeling of pressure or tightness in the chest and increased
stress. Only when the blood flow is extremely reduced, there might be symptoms such as severe
chest pain (angina), heart rhythm abnormalities or heart attack (myocardial infarction). There are
few controllable and un-controllable risk factors associated with coronary heart disease.
Controllable risk factors include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity,
high blood pressure, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, poor diet and obesity. Uncontrollable
factors are age, medical history, family and ethnic inheritance (Yanowitz, 1992).
Controllable risk factors must be focused to prevent heart disease and to remain healthy.
Steps needed to be taken in order to maintain a strong heart are, regular exercising especially
cardio-training every week, eating balanced food diet with high intake of fibers, vitamins,
proteins and reduced fat, reducing alcohol consumption, quit smoking, treating medical
conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, maintaining a normal body weight and
ultimately being aware of the risks associated with heart disease. It is important to reduce blood
cholesterol levels as they are the basis of coronary heart disease, hence high-density lipoproteins
(HDL) or good cholesterols should be increased in diet and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or
bad cholesterols should be reduced. Another way of preventing heart disease is through early
diagnosis or detection using medical tests such as electrocardiogram (ECG), regular blood tests,
exercise tolerance test / stress test, echocardiography, angiogram, CT angiography and nuclear
isotope imaging. These early diagnosis methods can be done by people related to uncontrollable
risk factors of heart disease for example people from an average age group of 40 and above,
people with medical conditions, risk of family or ethnic inheritance and so on (Labarthe, 2011).
Besides all these, it is also important to maintain a good mental health to reduce stress, thus
leading a happy and peaceful life (Esselstyn, 2007).
There are many treatment methods for heart disease in current medical facilities which
mainly focuses on surgery. But it is well known that prevention is always better than cure.
Therefore the preventive measures should be undertaken in order to live a healthy lifestyle. It is
emphasized that self-awareness and education based on risks of heart disease to be widely
practiced in order to prevent and control the probability of heart disease. Heart must be valued by
everyone and the importance of heart function should be shared to all.
References
Abbas, A.K. and Lichtman, A.H. (2009). Basic Immunology: Functions and Disorders of the
Immune System. San Francisco, California: Elsevier.
Anderson, P.D. (1984). Basic Human Anatomy and Physiology: Clinical Implications for the
Health Professions. New York: Wadsworth Health Sciences Division.
Brooks, S.M. (1975). Basic Science and the Human Body: Anatomy and Physiology. The
University of Michigan, New York: Mosby.
Dawson, H.L. (1974). Basic Human Anatomy. The University of Michigan, New York: Appleton
Century Crofts.
Esselstyn, C.B. (2007). Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically
Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure. New York: Penguin.
Krstic, R.V. (2013). Human Microscopic Anatomy: An Atlas for Students of Medicine and
Biology. New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
Labarthe, D. (2011). Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Global
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Saladin and Kenneth, S. (2001). Anatomy & Physiology: The Unity of Form and
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Tobin, C.E. (1973). Basic Human Anatomy. The University of Michigan, New York: McGraw-
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Windelspecht, M. (2004). The Digestive System. Pennsylvania State University: Greenwood
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Yanowitz, F.G. (1992). Coronary Heart Disease Prevention: Fundamental and Clinical
Cardiology (Volume 9). New York: Taylor & Francis.