INTRODUCTION
1. All living things show responsiveness, growth, reproduction, movement, absorption, respiration, and excretion. In addition complex organisms like human beings have special systems for digestion and circulation.
2. Biology is the study of life, and zoology the study of animals.
THE SCIENCES OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
1. Anatomy considers internal and external structure, while physiology examines function.
Topics in Anatomy and Physiology
1. Gross, or macroscopic, anatomy considers features observable without a microscope. Gross anatomy includes surface anatomy, systemic anatomy, and regional anatomy. It also includes several medical specialties, notably medical anatomy, radiographic anatomy, surgical anatomy, and pathological anatomy.
2. Fine, or microscopic, anatomy considers features invisible to the naked eye. Cytology, histology, and organology are included
within microscopic anatomy.
Themes and Patterns in Anatomy and Physiology
1. A structural analysis can tell you a great deal about possible functions, for the two characteristics are interdependent.
2. Anatomical structures and physiological mechanisms are arranged in a series of interacting levels of organization.
3. Alterations at any level affect all other levels. Mechanisms operate at each level to preserve homeostasis.
4. Homeostatic regulation is a dynamic process involving a
receptor and an effector.
5. Most physiological systems are regulated by control mechanisms using negative feedback. In this case a stimulus triggers a response that opposes and eliminates it. The homeostatic regulation of body temperature represents an example of negative feedback in operation.
6. In positive feedback the initial stimulus triggers a response
that enhances and exaggerates its effects. The stimulation and
maintenance of labor contractions during childbirth and the rapid
clotting of blood are two important examples of positive feedback in action.
7. When homeostasis cannot be restored, symptoms of illness or
disease appear.
8. Knowing how a homeostatic mechanism operates makes it possible to understand the origins of specific diseases.
9. Development begins at conception and continues through maturity. Embryology considers the events underway in the first 2-3 months of development.
10. An understanding of normal development reveals the origins of normal and abnormal anatomical structures.