Integumentary System
- Rodney Doss
- Apr 10, 2019
- 3 min read
INTRODUCTION
The integumentary system is the organ system consisting of the skin, hair, nails, exocrine glands, and nerves. Its main function is to act as a barrier to protect the body from the outside world. It also functions to retain body fluids, protect against disease, get rid of waste, and control body temperature. The integumentary system works with the other systems of your body, each of which has a role to play in supporting the internal conditions that a human body needs to work optimally. The skin is only a few millimeters thick yet it is the largest organ in the body. The average person's skin weighs 10 pounds and has a surface area of almost 20 square feet.
PURPOSE OF THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
The integumentary system has many jobs, most of them are involved in protecting you and making sure your body works. This system of organs protects the body's internal living tissues and organs. Safeguards against invasion by infectious organisms. Guards the body from dehydration. Secures the body against abrupt changes in temperature. Aids in the disposal of waste products. The skin has nerve endings that respond to stimulation like touch, pressure, pain, heat, and cold. It also stores water and fat.
HOW DOES THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM WORK WITH OTHER SYSTEMS?
Your body is a complicated system and subsystems that help to keep it working at tip top shape. These subsystems serve different purposes. The skin and other parts of this network of organs work with other networks in your body to maintain and support the conditions that your cells, tissues, and organs need to work correctly.
Immune cells live in the skin and provide the first defense mechanisms used by the immune system. Small glands in the skin release oils that fortify the barrier function of the skin. They protect against infections.
The skin also synthesizes and absorbs vitamin D. The whole system works with the digestive system to encourage the intake of calcium. Capillary networks in the skin do this. Healthy functioning of your skin also is related to the digestive system because the digestion of fats and oils ingested from the foods we eat are used by the body to make protective oils for the skin and hair.
The integumentary system also works closely with the circulatory system. Substances can enter the bloodstream through the skin, medication is delivered through patches like the nicotine patch through the skin and carried into the body through capillaries under the skin.
The skin also helps to maintain your body temperature. If you are too hot or too cold, your brain sends signals to the skin. It then has three ways to either increase or decrease heat loss from the body's surface. Hairs on the skin will stand up to trap heat and lay down to cool you off. Glands under the skin release sweat onto the surface of the skin to cool you off even faster by evaporation if the body is too hot. And or capillaries near the surface of the skin will open when your body needs to cool off and close when you need to conserve heat.
The nervous system depends on neurons rooted in your skin used to perceive the outside world. It takes that information, including touch, and begins work based on what it learned. For example, when something frightens you, or you get cold tiny elevations of the skin that resemble the skin of poultry after the feathers have been plucked appear on the skin.(goosebumps). These bumps are caused by a contraction of tiny muscles that are attached to each hair. Each tightening muscle creates a shallow depression on the surface of the skin, which causes the surrounding area to stick out, and the hair to stand up.
See how amazing your largest organ is. It does so many important things for you. And all you have to do is keep it clean.
Sources and References
https://www.innerbody.com/anatomy/integumentary
https://view.joomag.com/the-integumantary-system-the-integumentary-system/0710243001399225292?page=5
Comments