As James is getting older, he is learning A LOT of new words FAST. Most of them he says very well but there are a few that are a little off. So here is a test for all of you. I will give a list of words that James says and you must translate. I […]
Did you ever wonder why or how your body makes certain movements? How you adapt to the world around you? How you can think about walking and then your legs just start doing the motions? How your heart beats without you telling it to do so? Interesting huh?
It all boils down to information processing. There […]
I know you are just dying to know how a skeletal muscle contracts. So here goes…
First, an action potential (AP) reaches the axon terminal in a nerve. Then the voltage gated calcium channels open and there is an influx of calcium. The calcium causes Acetylcholine (ACh) to release into the synaptic cleft. Acetylcholine crosses the […]
There are three types of muscle tissue; skeletal, cardiac and smooth. These tissues have six characteristics:
Excitability-the ability to respond to stimuli and produce electrical signals.
Contractility-the ability to shorten and generate force once excited.
Extensibility-the ability to stretch without damaging the tissue.
Elasticity-the ability to return to normal length after being extended.
Thermal-the ability to produce heat.
I will mostly […]
In your body, you need to regulate your blood glucose level. This is regulated by two hormones, insulin and glucagon. They are secreted by the endocrine pancreas. Insulin is secreted by the beta cells while glucagon is secreted by the alpha cells. Insulin promotes glucose uptake from blood which decreases blood glucose. Another role is […]
This may sound familiar to some of you. The General Adaptation Syndrome is how someone reacts to stress, whether it be long-term or short-term. Stress can be almost anything. Examples are starvation, a car accident, losing a loved one or a difficult day at work. There is a wide range of stress effectors.
The three stages […]
Now I will talk about some more glands.
Thyroid Gland
Let’s start off with the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is one of the largest endocrine glands and is located in the neck, along the side of the adam’s apple. The thyroid releases the hormones thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and calcitonin. The T4 and T3 circulate bound […]
Last week my mom and I picked up a fire truck bed for James. Initially I put an ad up on craigslist Raleigh for a reasonably priced toddler bed. I had several replies but most places were too far to travel. Then, a very nice woman emailed me and told me she had a fire […]
The Pituitary Gland is also called the Master Gland. It was given that name because it has so many functions. It aids in maturation, reproduction, metabolism, circulation, bone metabolism, body temperature and water balance.
The Hypothalamus and the Pituitary Gland together, regulate virtually every aspect of growth, development, metabolism and homeostasis. The Hypothalamus is the major integrating […]
The Endocrine System is a very important to your body tissues. It alters your metabolism, it regulates growth and development, and it influences your reproductive process. Two types of glands are the exocrine glands and the endocrine glands. (Exo=outside, Endo=inside) The Exocrine glands secrete products into ducts which carry the secretions to a target site. Examples of […]
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