From time immemorial, mankind has sought to understand our inner strengths. Ancient Egyptians Handled human organs as they removed them for combustion. There may be medical manuscripts found in an ancient Chinese tomb Early known anatomical writing About the human body. Thousands of years later, do we know how many organs there are in the human body?
Organs are a collection of tissues that work together for a common goal, said Lisa M.J., an associate professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Lee explained. He told living science, “Every organ provides a function for human function or survival.”
But not every organ is necessary for survival. Only five limbs – this The brain, Heart, Liver, At least one kidney and at least one Lungs Absolutely necessary to live. Losing the full function of any of these living organs is a sign of death. Significantly, the human body can survive without many other organs, or by replacing a non-functioning organ with a medical device.
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To count the organs in the human body, it depends on who you ask and how you calculate, Lee said. However, no one knows where this number originates from, the general count is 78 78 factors, he said. This list includes important organs: the tongue, Stomach, Thyroid, Urethra, Pancreas, Plus many other singles or pairs of organs. Bones and Teeth Each is counted only once.
Among anatomists, there are different perspectives on the concept of an organ. Histologists such as Lee, who study tissues at the microscopic level, may have a longer list of organs than the gross anatomist who studies what appears to the naked eye. For example, scientists made headlines in 2017 for labeling mesentery, Which connects the intestine with the abdominal wall as an organ. Although scientists provided new evidence to call it an organ, it was not controversial, as many histologists and anatomists agree, Lee explained. But no group is accused of keeping an official count of organs or deciding what is right for an organ.
Thinking microscopically, when several types of tissue connect and work together, that unit is an organ, she said. Lee could call a nail, or structures that support a limb, and treat each tooth as an individual organ. “I would consider each bone an organ, and all 206 bones together, considered an organ system.” Since bones are already listed once on the list of 78, to get the total number of organs using this definition, just add 205 to 285 organs.
A separate count of each tooth brings up a list of 315 organs. Many other organs are listed only once, although many of them are in the body. Ligaments and tendons, for example, can dramatically increase the total number of limbs when individually counted. The game is endless. The list of 78 only counts nerves once, but there are millions of people in it.
Tired? Lee always tells his medical and graduate school students to be okay with this kind of ambiguity. However, you count them, you should take care of the organs you have, he added. “Increasingly, I know how important it is for you to put the right stuff into your body to feed your cells, your tissues, and your organs,” Lee said. After all, there are only so many actors in the character of his organs in the body.
Published on Original Living Science.
