The focus this week was to understand the complex nervous system and the equally complex endocrine system. The nervous system can be understood as the body’s electrical wiring and not unlike a car’s electrical system, when something malfunctions, it affects the entire machine. The endocrine system consists of glands that produce, secrete, and regulate the vital hormones needed for countless functions within the human body. When the endocrine system functions properly, the body grows and develops. When there is hormonal disruption within the endocrine system, the individual can manifest numerous illnesses that are often life altering. The following medical scenarios demonstrate the serious and sometimes fatal outcomes when the nervous and endocrine systems become diseased.
Case Study-Mr. Stevens Loss of Balance
Mr. Stevens presented to his doctor’s office with a chief complaint of frequent episodes of ataxia, which he describes as feeling as if he is drunk. In addition, he recounts he is unable to draw a straight line. Mr. Stevens’ physician suspects the patient’s symptoms indicate a problem within his cerebellum.
The Structure and Function of the Cerebellum
The cerebellum, the second largest brain structure, is located inferior to the occipital lobe of the cerebrum. The outside consists of a thin layer of folded gray matter, while the interior is predominately made up of white matter (Patton & Thibodeau, 2014). The cerebellum uses a complex system to communicate with other parts of the central nervous system to allow coordinated body movement. It accomplishes this by way of three pairs of nerve “highways” called cerebellar peduncles. The peduncles sense information from other areas of the central nervous system (CNS) such as the ...
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In the Unnatural Causes film, UC Berkley Professor and Epidemiologist, Leonard Syme, states that an important component of overall health is the “ability to influence the events that impinge on your life,” or another words, the means by which you are able to effectively manage the stressors in your life will greatly impact your health (2015). It is common knowledge that stress can negatively impact your health and the film points out that chronic stress affects the body by increasing cortisol levels, heart rate, blood pressure, circulating glucose levels and decreases the immune system’s response. All of this increases the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses (Smith, director, 2015). If we have power, control and
In conclusion, the body is a complex structure that is controlled largely by the hypothalamus. In these various functions, the hormones and the anterior pituitary carry out specific roles in order for the body to maintain homeostasis, however; if one part of these functions get out of control the body will then develop various diseases or abnormalities such as Graves disease.
Histological examination shows severe degeneration of Purkinje cells, reduction in the number of cells in the molecular and granular layers of the cerebellar cortex, severe loss of the number of cells in the pontine nuclei and olives, and demyelination of the middle cerebellar peduncle. The cerebellar nuclei are well preserved. The tegmentum of the pons, the corticospinal tracts, and the restiform body are also usually unaffected. In clinical cases involving extrapyramidal symptoms, degenerative changes in the striatum, espec...
Also, nurses and single parents with a life changing medical condition need to read this memo because it shows how various stressors impact health outcome and leads to poor health. According to Denollet, J., et al. (2010), suggest stress leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, cancer and heart diseases. The stress of not being able to get child care services for her two children has significant contributed to her illness.
The cerebrum is located at the anterior-most part of the brain and is responsible for the combination of complex sensory and neural functions, as well as the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body. It is the largest brain structure in humans and makes up two-thirds of the total mass of the brain (“Cerebrum Anatomy”, 2015). Its surface, a covering made up of grey matter usually 2-4mm thick, is called the cerebral cortex and is mainly made up of the cell bodies of neurons. The cerebral cortex is responsible for integrating sensory impulses, directing motor activity, and controlling higher intellectual functions. It is also responsible for the state of consciousness, which still remains a mystery to neurologists and the rest of the science community (Swenson, 2007).
The nervous system is the most complex part of the body, as they govern our thoughts, feelings, and bodily functions. It is an important factor in science because it can lead to new discoveries for cures or diseases. The studies of the nervous system helped lower death rates from heart disease, stroke, accidents, etc. The nervous system is a network of neurons (nerve cells that sends information to the brain to be analyzed.
Despite that many don 't realize the dangers, stress is one of the most significant problems of modern times, causing serious problems on physical and mental health. Stress symptoms may be affecting a patients health, even though a doctor may not realize it. Don 't assume that an illness is to blame for that excruciating headache or your sleep deprivation. Let 's face it, everyone copes with stress. Sometimes stress is in our favor, but other times it could feel like stress is taking over. " Stress is a normal physical response your body uses to protect itself from challenges life throws at it each day"(Stress and Health: How Stress Affects Your Health) Stress affects everyone differently, so it 's important to understand what may be causing
Previous studies that have researched the functions of the cerebellum have focused on investigating individuals that have damage to their cerebellum, such as was the case with the Phineas Gage’s frontal lobe study that proved that the frontal lobe served an important role in personality and behavior. Recent studies have had the advantage of new technologies that could significantly aid in identifying whether or not the cerebellum plays a role in specific functions, these include functional imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET imaging, and these recent technological advances have paved the way for new studies that focus on brain region activation. This new method in researching the cerebellum has created new hypotheses for the functions of this crucial brain region, which include but are not limited to cognitive and perceptual functions as well as the already examined motor functions.
The endocrine system interacts with the nervous system to coordinate and integrate the activity of body cells. Unlike the nervous system, which sends signals chemically and electrically, the endocrine system sends signals only via chemical stimulants called hormones. These hormones are secreted by the cells into any extracellular fluids, which then travel through the blood to regulate any metabolic activity. Hormones have a diverse and widespread affect like controlling reproduction, growth, development, maintaining nutrient balance in the blood, regulating cellular metabolism and mobilizing the body defenses (Marieb et al 2013). In dealing with growth and development, the thyroid gland is always under consideration. The thyroid gland is the largest endocrine gland in the body that produces thyroid hormones that consist of two iodine-containing hormones called thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyroxine (T3) (Marieb et al 2013). Thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH) are a tropic hormone that stimulates normal development and secretory activity of the thyroid gland. Thyrotropin-releasing hormones (TRH) are hypothalmic peptides that trigger the release of TSH from thyrotropic cells to different organs to help maintain the body’s metabolic state (Marieb et al 2013). Thyroid function has been known as a major contributor to the basal metabolic rate (O’Malley et al 2000). According to Longhi and Radetti, body composition and thyroid hormones are two components that are closely related. The hormones are involved in regulation of metabolism and thermogenesis, which plays a key role in lipid and glucose metabolism along with digestion of food and fat oxidation (Longhi et al 2013).
The cerebellum receives information from the sensory systems and develops it. This is responsible for things like posture, balance, coordination and speech. The pons are the bridge between the cerebellum and the cerebrum among other things. The third principle structure of the hindbrain is called the medulla oblongata. This is the structure that transfers messages to the spinal cord and the
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It contains all the tools that are responsible the majority of the brains functions. The cerebrum is split up into four sections: frontal lobe, occiptal lobe and pariental lobe. The cerebrum has two sections the right and the left hemisphere that are connected by axons that send messages to and from one another. The matter in this part is made up of cells that carry signals between the nerve cells and the organs that run through the
The human body is very complex. It is like a job. You have to do a million things in one day to make it through the day. The body uses nine systems to do all of those jobs. They all have separate functions, but some work together. Each system is also made up of organs. There are many ways to care and protect the systems from the many different problems they can have. There are also many interesting facts about each system.
I. Finding out about suffering from a serious illness can be upsetting, shocking, and overwhelming, and people often ask themselves questions such as “Why me?”,” What is my future going to be like?” There is no right or wrong way to react to the diagnosis provided by the physician. Some people go silent, because they can’t believe what they are hearing and they don’t know what to say or do, others feel emotional, and some become angry and scared. The endocrine disorders are common, and it is not surprising that famous people suffer from them too, and despite them they were still able to accomplish great things or they even help them. Successful stories of famous people can serve as sources of encouragement and give hope to people suffering
The Endocrine System is made up of glands that make hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep, and mood. The glands that are in the Endocrine system are the Hypothalamus, Pineal Gland, Pituitary Gland, Thyroid, Parathyroid, Thymus, Adrenal, the Pancreas, Ovaries, and Testes. There are also many diseases that affect this system. For example, Prediabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Osteoporosis. The Hypothalamus is part of the brain that has a certain number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the Hypothalamus is that it links the Nervous System and the Endocrine System because of the Pituitary Gland. It also has the
The endocrine system is composed by a group of glands that secrete hormones for the secretion of a specific organ and the result of this cycle will contribute to of physiological and behavioral activities. The circulatory system makes a connection with the hormones secreted because it helps them to travel around the human body in a very short time. The endocrine glands that secrete the hormones that target specific hormones consist of the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal gland, pancreas, ovaries and testes. However, they are secondary organs part of the body system such as the kidney, liver, and heart. The kidney in particular secretes endocrine hormones such as renin and erythropoietin (EPO).