Human Body Anatomy - PART 2

 

KIDNEYS - Starts ageing at 50
With kidneys, the number of filtering units (nephrons) that remove waste from the bloodstream starts to reduce in middle age.
One effect of this is their inability to turn off urine production at night, causing frequent trips to the bathroom.
The kidneys of a 75-year-old person will filter only half the amount of blood that a 30-year-old's will.
PROSTATE - Starts ageing at 50
The prostate often becomes enlarged with age, leading to problems such as increased need to urinate, says Professor Roger Kirby, director of the Prostate Centre in London.
This is known as benign prostatic hyperplasia and affects half of men over 50, but rarely those under 40.
It occurs when the prostate absorbs large amounts of the male sex hormone testosterone, which increases the growth of cells in the prostate.
A normal prostate is the size of a walnut, but the condition can increase this to the size of a tangerine.
BONES - Start ageing at 35
'Throughout our life, old bone is broken down by cells called osteoclasts and replaced by bone-building cells called osteoblasts - a process called bone turnover,' explains Robert Moots, professor of rheumatology at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool.
Children's bone growth is rapid - the skeleton takes just two years to renew itself completely. In adults, this can take ten years.
Until our mid-20s, bone density is still increasing. But at 35 bone loss begins as part of the natural ageing process.
This becomes more rapid in post-menopausal women and can cause the bone-thinning condition osteoporosis.
The shrinking in size and density of bones can lead to loss of height. Bones in the back shrivel up or crumble between the vertebrae. We lose two inches in height by the time we're 80.
TEETH - Start ageing at 40
As we age, we produce less saliva, which washes away bacteria, so teeth and gums are more vulnerable to decay.
Receding gums - when tissue is lost from gums around the teeth - is common in adults over 40.
MUSCLES - Start ageing at 30
Muscle is constantly being built up and broken down, a process which is well balanced in young adults.
However, by the time we're 30, breakdown is greater than buildup, explains Professor Robert Moots.
Once adults reach 40, they start to lose between 0.5 and 2 per cent of their muscle each year. Regular exercise can help prevent this.
HEARING - Starts ageing mid-50s
More than half of people over 60 lose hearing because of their age, according to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.
The condition, known as presbycusis, happens due to a loss of 'hair cells' - tiny sensory cells in the inner ear which pick up sound vibrations and send them to the brain.
SKIN - Starts ageing mid-20s
The skin starts to age naturally in your mid-20s.
According to Dr Andrew Wright, a consultant dermatologist with Bradford NHS Trust, as we get older production of collagen - the protein which acts as scaffolding to the skin - slows, and elastin, the substance that enables skin to snap back into place, has less spring and can even break.
Dead skin cells don't shed as quickly and turnover of new skin cells may decrease slightly.
This causes fine wrinkles and thin, transparent skin - even if the first signs may not appear until our mid-30s (unless accelerated by smoking or sun damage).
TASTE AND SMELL - Start ageing at 60
We start out in life with about 10,000 taste buds scattered on the tongue. This number can halve later in life.
After we turn 60, taste and smell gradually decline, partly as a result of the normal ageing process.
This can be accelerated by problems such as polyps in the nasal or sinus cavities. It can also be the cumulative effect of years of smoking.
FERTILITY - Starts ageing at 35
Female fertility begins to decline after 35, as the number and quality of eggs in the ovaries start to fall.
The lining of the womb may become thinner, making it less likely for a fertilised egg to take, and also creating an environment hostile to sperm.
Male fertility also starts to drop around this age. Men who wait until their 40s before starting a family have a greater chance of their partner having a miscarriage, because of the poorer quality of their sperm.
HAIR - Starts ageing at 30
Male hair loss usually begins in the 30s. Hair is made in tiny pouches just under the skin's surface, known as follices.
A hair normally grows from each follicle for about three years, is then shed, and a new hair grows.
However, with male-pattern baldness, changes in levels of testosterone from their early-30s affect this cycle, causing the hair follicles to shrink.
Each new hair is thinner than the previous one. Eventually, all that remains is a much smaller hair follicle and a thin stump of hair that does not grow out to the skin surface.
Most people will have some grey hair by the age of 35. When we are young, our hair is coloured by the pigments produced by cells in the hair follicle known as melanocytes.
As we grow older, melanocytes become less active, so less pigment is produced, the colour fades, and grey hairs grow instead.

Human Body Anatomy - PART 1

Time: When your body really starts going downhill
There's no denying the ticking of a woman's biological clock - but men are not immune, either. French doctors have found that the quality of sperm starts to deteriorate by 35, so that by the time a man is 45 a third of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Here, with the help of leading clinicians, Angela Epstein identifies the ages when different parts of the body start to lose their battle with time.
BRAIN - Starts ageing at 20
As we get older, the number of nerve cells - or neurons - in the brain decrease. We start with around 100 billion, but in our 20s this number starts to decline.
By 40, we could be losing up to 10,000 per day, affecting memory, co-ordination and brain function.
In fact, while the neurons are important, it's actually the deterioration of the gaps between the brain cells that has the biggest impact, says Dr Wojtek Rakowicz, a consultant neurologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London.
We all assume grey hair and wrinkles are the first signs of ageing, but some parts of your body are worn out long before you look old
These tiny gaps between the end of one brain nerve cell and another are called synapses. Their job is to ensure the flow of information from one cell to another, and as we age we make fewer.
GUT - Starts ageing at 55
A healthy gut has a good balance between harmful and 'friendly' bacteria.
But levels of friendly bacteria in the gut drop significantly after 55, particularly in the large intestine, says Tom MacDonald, professor of immunology at Barts And The London medical school.
As a result, we suffer from poor digestion and an increased risk of gut disease.
Constipation is more likely as we age, as the flow of digestive juices from the stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestine slows down.
BREASTS - Start ageing at 35
BY their mid-30s, women's breasts start losing tissue and fat, reducing size and fullness.
Sagging starts properly at 40 and the areola (the area surrounding the nipple) can shrink considerably.
Although breast cancer risk increases with age, it's not related to physical changes in the breast.
More likely, says Gareth Evans, breast cancer specialist at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, our cells become damaged with age - as a result, the genes which control cell growth can mutate, causing cancer.
BLADDER - Starts ageing at 65
Loss of bladder control is more likely when you hit 65.
The bladder starts to contract suddenly, even when it's not full.
Women are more vulnerable to bladder problems as, after the menopause, declining oestrogen levels make tissues in the urethra - the tube through which urine passes - thinner and weaker, reducing bladder support.
Bladder capacity in an older adult generally is about half that of a younger person - about two cups in a 30-year-old and one cup in a 70-year-old.
This causes more frequent trips to the loo, particularly as poor muscle tone means the bladder may not fully empty. This in turn can lead to urinary tract infections.
LUNGS - Start ageing at 20
Lung capacity slowly starts to decrease from the age of 20.
By the age of 40, some people are already experiencing breathlessness. This is partly because the muscles and the rib cage which control breathing stiffen up.
It's then harder to work the lungs and also means some air remains in the lungs after breathing out - causing breathlessness.
Aged 30, the average man can inhale two pints of air in one breath. By 70, it's down to one.
VOICE - Starts ageing at 65
Our voices become quieter and hoarser with age. The soft tissues in the voice box (larynx) weaken, affecting the pitch, loudness and quality of the voice.
A woman's voice may become huskier and lower in pitch, whereas a man's might become thinner and higher.
EYES - Start ageing at 40
Glasses are the norm for many over-40s as failing eyesight kicks in - usually long-sightedness, affecting our ability to see objects up close.
As we age, the eye's ability to focus deteriorates because the eyes' muscles become weaker, says Andrew Lotery, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Southampton.
HEART - Starts ageing at 40
The heart pumps blood less effectively around the body as we get older.
This is because blood vessels become less elastic, while arteries can harden or become blocked because of fatty deposits forming on the coronary arteries - caused by eating too much saturated fat.
The blood supply to the heart is then reduced, resulting in painful
angina.
Men over 45 and women over 55 are at greater risk of a heart attack.
A recent study by Lloyds Pharmacy found the average person in the UK has a 'heart age' five years older than their chronological age, probably due to obesity and lack of exercise.
LIVER - Starts ageing at 70
This is the only organ in the body which seems to defy the ag ing process.
'Its cells have an extraordinary capacity to regenerate,' explain David Lloyd, a consultant liver surgeon at Leicester Royal Infir mary.
He says he can remove ha a liver during surgery and it will grow to the size of a complete liver within three months.
If a donor doesn't drink, use drug or suffer from infection, then it is possible to transplant a 70-year-old liver into a 20-year-old.

Make A Successful Weight Loss Just By Drinking Water - Maybe The Easiest Weight Loss Method

Make A Successful Weight Loss Just By Drinking Water - Maybe The Easiest Weight Loss Method

Well, you may have heard it before - you can lose weight just by drinking pure plain water. Do you think it is like that? Yes, it is, you can lose weight just by drinking water. I will explain why it is so.
There are studies that show that just by drinking water your metabolism will increase with up to 30 percentages. That is quite impressive, isn't it? To make your weight loss possible you need to drink eight glasses of water every day, and if you have lots of overweight you need to drink a few glasses more. If you live in a warm climate or if you exercise very intensive you need to drink more than the eight glasses. You may be thinking that eight glasses is much water to drink, but you shouldn't drink it at the same time; instead you need to spread it out throughout the day.
Drinking water is not only great for your weight loss. Just by drinking lots of water you will look better because your skin will become more glowing. Your muscles will work more effective when you exercise which will lead to a better shaped body.
A few tips about how you should act when you decide to lose weight just by drinking water:
• Start every morning with a glass of water.
• Drink a glass of water before every meal.
• Drink lukewarm water, it may be easier to drink lots of water when it isn't cold.
• Add a slice of lemon if you don't like the taste of the water.
• Avoid drinking just before you go to bed.
Drinking water is a cheap and very effective way to lose weight, but often you need to add some diet and exercise to make your weight loss effective.

Your Nails

You may not think about your nails, unless you just painted them blue or your mom says it's time to trim them. But your nails have a job to do. The hard surface of your nails helps to protect the tips of your fingers and toes. And your fingernails make it easier to scratch an itch or remove a dog hair from your sweater.
Nails themselves are made of keratin (say: kair-uh-tin). This is the same substance your body uses to create hair and the top layer of your skin. You had fingernails and toenails before you were even born. Where do they come from?
It may look like your fingernails and toenails start growing where your U-shaped cuticle (say: kyoo-tih-kul) begins. But there's more going on under the surface. Nails start in the nail root, hidden under the cuticle.
When cells at the root of the nail grow, the new nail cells push out the old nail cells. These old cells flatten and harden, thanks to keratin, a protein made by these cells. The newly formed nail then slides along the nail bed, the flat surface under your nails. The nail bed sits on top of tiny blood vessels that feed it and give your nails their pink color.
Your fingernails grow slowly — in fact, they grow about one tenth of an inch (2.5 millimeters) each month. At that rate it can take about 3 to 6 months to completely replace a nail.
Where your nail meets your skin is your cuticle. Cuticles help to protect the new nail as it grows out from the nail root. The lunula (say: loon-yuh-luh) — which comes from the Latin word for "moon" — is that pale half circle just above the cuticle. Your lunula is easiest to see on your thumbnails.
Nail Care
You might need an adult to help you trim your fingernails and toenails, which can be a little challenging. A nail clipper or a pair of nail scissors may be used. To smooth jagged edges, you can use a nail file or emery board, which works like sandpaper.
Fingernails should be trimmed straight across and slightly rounded at the top. Having nicely trimmed nails can keep you from biting or picking at them, which can lead to infections. It's also a good idea to moisturize nails and cuticles regularly. A little hand lotion will do the trick.
Because toenails are slowpokes (they don't grow nearly as fast as fingernails), they don't need to be trimmed as often. They should be trimmed straight across, which can be difficult, so you might want to ask a parent for help.
Manicures and Pedicures
Sometimes people get their fingernails and toenails cut and polished by a professional. Manicures (done on hands and fingernails) and pedicures (done on feet and toenails) are popular services for girls and women, but if you get one, you'll want to be sure the salon follows strict guidelines for cleaning its tools and the stations where hands and feet are washed, trimmed, buffed, and polished.
To prevent infections and other problems, experts recommend taking your own nail clippers and other tools to the manicurist or pedicurist. That's better because you won't be exposed to bacteria and other bad stuff that can linger on the tools that were used on other people's hands and feet.
It can be fun to do your own manicure or pedicure at home, but you may want to ask for an adult's help. Use special care with sharp tools, nail polish, or nail polish remover. These items can be especially dangerous if a little brother or sister gets hold of them! Also, the ingredients in some nail polishes and removers can be damaging and dry out your nails.
Common Nail Problems
Most of the time, your nails are pink and healthy, but sometimes nails have problems. Some of the most common for kids include:
  *ingrown nail — when the nail curves down and into the skin, causing pain and, sometimes, an infection
  *nail injury — when you drop something on your big toe or catch your finger in a drawer. A bruise may appear under the nail and sometimes the nail falls off. A new one grows in its place.
  *nail deformity — when the nail isn't smooth, like a healthy nail. People who bite or pick at their nails a lot can have this problem, but it also can occur because the person has an illness that affects the nail.
  *hangnail — when a loose strip of dead skin hangs from the edge of a fingernail. Hangnails hurt if you pull them off.
Some of these problems, such as a minor nail injury or hangnail, can be handled at home by your mom or dad. But infections and more serious nail injuries need a doctor's care. Signs of a nail infection include pain, redness, puffiness (swelling), and maybe some pus.
What Your Nails Have to Say
Don't be surprised if your doctor takes a look at your nails at your next checkup, even if you're having no problems with them. Fingernails provide good clues to a person's overall health.
For instance, when the doctor presses your nails, he or she is checking your blood circulation. By looking at your nails, a doctor may find changes that may be associated with skin problems, lung disease, anemia, and other medical conditions. Your nails are in the know!