XBHA2103

HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

ANATOMI DAN FISIOLOGI MANUSIA
JANUARY 2020

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QUESTION 1

The epidermis is the superficial layer that helps to protect the skin from

harmful influences from the environment and control the fluid loss within five

different structural layers. Explain the main layers of the epidermis.

The skin is composed of two major layers: a superficial epidermis and a

deeper dermis.

The epidermis consists of several layers beginning with the innermost

(deepest) stratum Basale (germinatum), followed by the stratum spinosum,

stratum granulosum, stratum lucidum (when present), and ending with the

outermost layer, the stratum corneum. The topmost layer, the stratum corneum,

consists of dead cells that shed periodically and is progressively replaced by

cells formed from the basal layer. The stratum basal also contains melanocytes,

cells that produce melanin, the pigment primarily responsible for giving skin its

colour. Melanin is transferred to keratinocytes in the stratum spinosum to

protect cells from UV rays.

The dermis connects the epidermis to the hypodermis, and provides

strength and elasticity due to the presence of collagen and elastin fibbers. It

has only two layers: the papillary layer with papillae that extend into the

epidermis and the lower, reticular layer composed of loose connective tissue.

The hypodermis, deep to the dermis of skin, is the connective tissue that

connects the dermis to underlying structures; it also harbours adipose tissue

for fat storage and protection.

QUESTION 2

Many hormone levels are affected in the body with several hormones playing

major roles during the pregnancy period. Explain the hormonal changes during

pregnancy after the occurrence of implantation on the uterus wall.

Hormones (especially estrogens, progesterone, and hCG) secreted by the

corpus luteum and later by the placenta are responsible for most of the changes

experienced during pregnancy. Estrogen maintains the pregnancy, promotes

fetal viability, and stimulates tissue growth in the mother and developing fetus.

Progesterone prevents new ovarian follicles from developing and suppresses

uterine contractility.

Tests for detecting HCG in a women’s blood or urine provide a reliable

means of determining pregnancy. The sustained corpus luteum continues to

produce estrogen and progesterone, which maintain the endometrium. Since

these hormones also inhibit the release of FSH, no follicles can mature during

pregnancy. It is therefore impossible to ovulate during pregnancy. Birth control

pills prevent ovulation by artificially increasing the concentrations of these

hormones. The corpus luteum eventually deteriorates several months into

pregnancy, but before it does, secretion of estrogen and progesterone shifts to

the placenta. The placenta develops from embryonic tissues and part of the

endometrium, providing a link for exchanging materials between fetal and

maternal blood.
QUESTION 3

Food consists of materials that supply energy as well as vitamins, salts, trace

elements, crude fibre, water and various other minerals. Explain the variety of

food nutrition conversion due to food intake in the digestive system.

There are many organs that work together to digest food and absorb

nutrients. The mouth is the point of ingestion and the location where both

mechanical and chemical breakdown of food begins. Saliva contains an enzyme

called amylase that breaks down carbohydrates. The food bolus travels through

the oesophagus by peristaltic movements to the stomach. The stomach has an

extremely acidic environment. The enzyme pepsin digests protein in the

stomach. Further digestion and absorption take place in the small intestine. The

pancreas is one of the largest glands in the human body. As well as digestive

juices, it secretes a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps to regulate the amount

of sugar in the blood. Diabetes is a condition caused by problems with insulin

production.

Furthermore, the liver has a number of different roles in the body which

are breaking down fats, using bile stored in the gall bladder, processing proteins

and carbohydrates, filtering and processing impurities, drugs and toxins and

generation of glucose for short-term energy needs from other compounds like

lactate and amino acids.The large intestine reabsorbs water from the

undigested food and stores waste until elimination.

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the primary components of food.

Some essential nutrients are required for cellular function but cannot be

produced by the animal body. These include vitamins, minerals, some fatty acids,

and some amino acids. Food intake in more than necessary amounts is stored as
glycogen in the liver and muscle cells, and in adipose tissue. Excess adipose

storage can lead to obesity and serious health problems.

Question 4

A fracture is a break or disruption in the continuity of the bone. Fracture

healing involves a complex and sequential set of mechanisms to restore the

injured bone to pre-fracture condition. With the aid of a diagram, explain the

mechanism of the bone repairing process due to a fracture.

A fracture is a broken bone. It will heal whether or not a physician resets

it in its anatomical position. If the bone is not reset correctly, the healing

process will keep the bone in its deformed position.

When a broken bone is manipulated and set into its natural position

without surgery, the procedure is called a closed reduction. Open

reduction requires surgery to expose the fracture and reset the bone. While

some fractures can be minor, others are quite severe and result in grave

complications. For example, a fractured diaphysis of the femur has the potential

to release fat globules into the bloodstream. These can become lodged in the

capillary beds of the lungs, leading to respiratory distress and if not treated

quickly, death.

When a bone breaks, blood flows from any vessel torn by the fracture.

These vessels could be in the periosteum, osteons, and/or medullary cavity. The

blood begins to clot, and about six to eight hours after the fracture, the

clotting blood has formed a fracture hematoma (Figure 2a). The disruption of

blood flow to the bone results in the death of bone cells around the fracture.
 Figure 2. Stages in Fracture Repair.

The healing of a bone fracture follows a series of progressive steps:

(a) A fracture hematoma forms.

(b) Internal and external celli form.

(c) Cartilage of the calli is replaced by trabecular bone.

(d) Remodeling occurs.

Within about 48 hours after the fracture, chondrocytes from the

endosteum have created an internal callus (plural = calli) by secreting a

fibrocartilaginous matrix between the two ends of the broken bone, while the

periosteal chondrocytes and osteoblasts create an external callus of hyaline

cartilage and bone, respectively, around the outside of the break (Figure 2b).

This stabilizes the fracture.

 Over the next several weeks, osteoclasts resorb the dead bone;

osteogenic cells become active, divide, and differentiate into osteoblasts. The

cartilage in the calli is replaced by trabecular bone via endochondral ossification

(Figure 2c).

Eventually, the internal and external calli unite, compact bone replaces

spongy bone at the outer margins of the fracture, and healing is complete. A

slight swelling may remain on the outer surface of the bone, but quite often,

that region undergoes remodelling (Figure 2d), and no external evidence of the

fracture remains.