The Integumentary System
Jordan Kincaid, Period 5
The Components (Organs and Tissues)
Three things that make up the integumentary system are skin, hair, and nails. There are two layers of the system; the dermis and the epidermis. The epidermis acts as a jacket, covering the inner layers while the dermis contains nerves and blood vessels. This system also contains sweat glands, which help to keep our temperature level. Sweat glands often get rid of too much water, leading to dehydration if you aren't cautious. Athletes often drink lots of water to prevent this.
Skin
The skin is our largest organ, working to protect and cover our internal organs. It's made of several components, including water, proteins, lipids, and other minerals and chemicals. On average, it weighs about six pounds.
Hair
Hair grows at a rate of .4 mm/day, a speed four times that of nails. It is able to grow in most areas of the body, leaving out areas such as the palm of your hand and the soles of your feet. Common areas include the head, eyebrows, arms, and legs. We often lost 50-100 strands of hair a day!
Nails
Nails grow at a slow speed of .1 mm/day, around 3 millimeters per month. They often grow faster in the summer rather than the winter.
The Integumentary System and its Functions
The integumentary system is very important in that it has a number of useful functions.
1) It helps to protect inner organs. The epidermis covers the whole body, making it significantly more difficult to access it.
2) It protects the body from dehydration. The sweat glands often sweat excessively during workouts or just from sunlight so you have to drink lots of water.
3) It helps protect the body from abrupt temperature changes by either sweating or shivering. Sweating helps to decrease temperature, and shivering forces some of your hairs to shiver, increasing warmth.
4) It protects the dermis from sunburns. Melanin in our skin helps to protect our dermis.
5) It helps to store water, fat, and vitamin D.
Diseases in the Integumentary System
The integumentary system may be safe, but a number of diseases can occur here. One of the most common skin diseases is skin cancer, diagnosing more than two million people in the U.S. every year with this. Warts are another disease happening on our skin, rough bumps caused by a viral infection. One of the most well known skin diseases is acne- a disorder of the hair and oil glands.
Skin Cancer
Cancer has a number of treatment options, an oncologist being the doctor you would go to. Certain types of cancer, if not treated carefully, can be fatal. For more of the common types of cancer, chemotherapy is advised and often used.
Warts
Warts are rough bumps caused by viral infection. Though any physician can treat them, often a dermatologist is called. Most often to get rid of them people freeze them, use liquid irritation, and sometimes use lasers.
Acne
Often acne is dealt with by using home remedies or face wipes. It's one of the most common skin diseases yet not one of the worst. Acne is often found on your face, back, and chest.