How Our Glands Work and Swollen Enlarged Prostate Throat Glands Infection

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 20th, 2006

All people, and animals, too, have glands that influence or control how their organs function. These glands are called endocrine glands, and they are located in many different places throughout the body.

An endocrine gland makes a chemical substance called a hormone, which it supplies directly into the bloodstream. The hormone travels through the blood vessels to parts of the body where it acts upon organs and influences how they work.


Removal of the thyroid gland is a simple and safe operation. The scar from the horizontal incision is just a thin line and usually fades out as the child gets older.

Hormones from the anterior portion of the pituitary control many body functions. The most important hormones are the growth hormone, the hormone that affects the activity of the adrenal glands, and the hormones that stimulate other glands like the thyroid and the testicles and the ovaries. When these glands are stimulated, they secrete their own hormones into the bloodstream.

To give an example: The pancreas, located in the upper part of the abdomen, manufactures the hormone insulin. When insulin is supplied by the pancreas, it travels in the bloodstream and controls how we use the sugar that we have eaten. Since the insulin goes to all parts of the body, it regulates the use of sugar whether it is in the brain, or in the liver, or in the muscles. Without insulin, we couldn’t use the sugar for the energy we need. Our brain, our liver, and our muscles would all fail to work properly as they require a great deal of sugar.
The endocrine glands are:

The Pituitary Gland

Located at the base of the brain, this is a tiny gland, no bigger than an ordinary thimble. But it is the “master gland” of the body because it directs all the other glands that we have. The pituitary gland makes several hormones. The main ones are:

1. The growth hormone, which determines how little or how much we will grow. If a child’s pituitary gland isn’t working right and fails to manufacture enough growth hormone, that child may not grow properly and might even become a dwarf. If the pituitary makes too much growth hormone, that child might become a giant.

2. The gonadotropic hormone, which influences the ovaries in a girl and the testicles in a boy. This hormone doesn’t really do its main work until a child reaches about twelve years of age. Then, in a girl, it stimulates the ovaries and the girl starts to undergo changes into becoming a young woman, or, in a boy, it stimulates the testicles and the boy starts to develop into a young man. Without sufficient gonadotropic hormone, a child’s adolescence may be delayed. In¬stead of beginning to mature at twelve or thirteen years of age, a child might not begin to grow up until he or she reaches fifteen, sixteen, or even seventeen years of age.

3. The thyrotropic hormone, which regulates the function of the thyroid gland. If too little of this hormone is manufactured, the thyroid won’t work properly and a child’s growth might be stunted. Such children are called cretins; they are short, fat, and sluggish, and their minds don’t work well, either.

4. ACTH. If not enough ACTH is manufactured, then the adrenal glands above the kidneys won’t function properly.

5. ADH, which controls the amount of water our kidneys excrete. If the pituitary fails to make enough of this hormone, tremendous amounts of urine are excreted. People with this condition drink huge amounts of water all the time. They never seem able to drink enough to make up for all the water they are losing through their urine.

Overactivity of the pituitary gland will cause abnormal growth and very early development, as can be seen In this comparison of two 9′h year-old girls.

Scientists have learned how to make most of the pituitary hormones right in a chemical laboratory. And so, if someone’s pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough of one of its hormones, that person can be given the hormone in a tablet or an injection. In that way, it is often possible to overcome the shortcomings of the pituitary gland. And if the pituitary manufactures too much hormone, it can sometimes be controlled by giving X-ray treatments to the gland to slow down its activity.

The Thyroid Gland
This gland is located in the neck, in front of and on the sides of the wind¬pipe. Like the pituitary gland, it, too, is extremely important. The thyroid makes a hormone called thyroxin. Thyroxin, when it gets into the bloodstream, regulates how our food is turned into energy and how quickly and completely that energy is used up.

The thyroid is also concerned in regulating our muscle activity, our body growth, and our body heat.
Even though the thyroid gland itself may be perfectly normal, it won’t work properly unless it receives a sufficient amount of thyrotropic hormone from the pituitary gland.
People whose thyroid secretes too little hormone have little pep or energy, their muscles are flabby, they get fat and lazy, they feel cold even in warm weather, and their minds function poorly. Very often, poor functioning of the thyroid gland can be controlled by giving the person thyroid pills.

People whose thyroid manufactures too much hormone will lose weight even though they eat a lot, their hearts will beat faster than they should, their hands may shake when they pick up something, their eyes may bulge, and they may have a swelling in the neck because the gland has become enlarged. (The enlargement of the thyroid gland is called a goiter.) Quite often, an overactive thyroid can be controlled by giving the person certain medicines, such as antithyroid pills, or by giving him radioactive iodine to chink. If these medicines don’t slow down the thyroid, it is sometimes necessary to operate and remove the overactive part of the gland. Operations almost always cure the condition.

The endocrine glands secrete hormones that are responsible for controlling many body functions, and they also play an important part in seeing that the body’s chemical reactions are well balanced. The main glands are the pituitary, the thyroid, the parathyroids, the pancreas, the adrenals, the testicles and the ovaries.

The Parathyroid Glands
These are four pea-sized structures lying in back of the thyroid gland in the neck. Although they are located right next to the thyroid, the parathyroid glands have an entirely separate function. They manufacture a hormone called parathormone. Its job is to regulate what happens to the minerals calcium and phosphorus that we get in our diet. For example, milk has loads of calcium and phosphorus.

A person whose parathyroids secrete too much parathormone will have a poor appetite, may be nauseated and throw up, will lose weight, and may develop a great thirst.. Also, his bones will get very brittle and will break easily. Such a person may also develop stones in his kidneys.

Sometimes the parathyroids become too active, because the child doesn’t get enough vitamin D in his diet. This can be corrected easily by taking vitamin D pills or drops. Once in a while, a swelling or tumor of the parathyroid glands develops, and in order to cure the patient, it is necessary to operate and remove the tumor. This can be done without too much trouble.

A person whose parathyroid glands don’t manufacture enough hormone will have muscle cramps, stiffness in the arms and legs, tingling in the fingers and toes, and may even have a convulsion. This condition is called tetany. In most cases, tetany can be controlled with large doses of vitamin D and calcium. Children who drink enough milk and take their vitamins regularly seldom have trouble with their parathyroid glands.

The four parathyroid glands are located behind the thyroid gland. Two are shown here. A parathyroid tumor may cause overactivity of the gland, but this is rare in children.

The Adrenal Glands
The adrenals lie on top of the kidneys, one on each side, on the back of the abdomen, high up under the ribs. They have almost as many different jobs to perform as the pituitary gland, but they can’t function properly. unless they receive the right amount of hormones from the pituitary gland. Here are some of the many jobs the various adrenal hormones perform:

The adrenal glands are located on top of each kidney, as seen in this diagram. They secrete adrenalin, cortisone and other hormones.

1. They make the heart beat stronger, especially during times when it is necessary for the heart to do extra-hard work because of strenuous exercise. The hormone they supply to make this possible is called adrenalin.

2. They overcome muscle tiredness, so that people can continue to do physical work or strenuous exercise.

3. They cause certain blood vessels to contract so that blood which would ordinarily go to those parts of the body, can go to other parts of the body where it is more urgently needed.

4. They increase the amount of sugar in the blood. This makes more sugar available to be used for energy.

5. They control the amount of salt and water in the body, sometimes causing us to hold more water and salt, at other times causing us to get rid of extra water and salt.

6. They are partially responsible for the development of a girl into a woman, and for a boy into a man. (These hormones have much the same function as hormones manufactured by the ovaries in females and the testicles in males.)

7. They are responsible for the body being able to overcome great strains and stresses. The hormone that accomplishes this is called cortisone. Without cortisone, we would not be able to live for very long.

The Pancreas
This gland lies across the back of the abdomen beneath the stomach. Most of the pancreas is not an endocrine gland. It supplies most of the substances it makes directly to the intestines, not into the bloodstream.

But it is partially an endocrine gland because it manufactures the hormone insulin. And insulin is supplied, as all hormones are, directly into the bloodstream. In the bloodstream, insulin controls how we use the sugar we have eaten. And since insulin goes to all parts of the body, it regulates the use of sugar whether it is in the brain, the liver, the muscles, or anywhere else. If not enough insulin is manufactured, diabetes will result.

The Ovaries
Present only in females, the ovaries lie one on each side of the uterus in the lower part of the abdomen. They are almond-shaped and about the size of large walnuts. During early childhood, the ovaries don’t secrete much hormone. When they do, a girl, no matter how young she may happen to be, may begin to show signs of maturity and will develop breasts and hair under her arms. This happens to a really young girl only once in a great while, but when it does, it usually means the girl has an important upset in gland function or might possibly have a tumor in one of her ovaries.

This diagram shows the various parts of the female organs, including the vagina, the cervix, the uterus, fallopian tubes and the ovaries. Young girls should be taught about these organs, which are responsible for reproduction.

Normally, the ovaries start to secrete large amounts of hormones when a girl reaches eleven, twelve, or thirteen years of age. These hormones are responsible for the onset of menstrual periods and for changes in the girl’s general appearance. Because of the action of the hormone estrogen, the girl’s breasts begin to enlarge, she develops hair under her arms and in the pubic region of her lower abdomen, her female organs enlarge, and her figure changes from that of a girl to that of a young woman.
The ovaries, in addition to supplying hormones to the bloodstream, manufacture eggs that can one day unite with a sperm to form a new child.

The Testicles
Present only in males, these are two oval-shaped glands located in the scrotal sac beneath the penis. In addition to manufacturing sperm, which can one day unite with an egg to form a new human being, the testicles make a hormone called testosterone. It is also called the male sex hormone.

The testicles don’t produce sperm or secrete very much testosterone until a boy reaches about twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years of age. Then they begin to make large amounts of testosterone, which goes into the bloodstream. This male sex hormone is responsible for the development of hair on the face, under the arms, and in the pubic region of the lower abdomen. Testosterone also influences the male organs, causing them to grow larger; it is responsible for the voice changing from that of a boy to that of a man; and it is responsible for the boy’s figure changing so that he looks more like a grown man.

The Tummy Tuck Belly Button and Navel Surgery

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 14th, 2006

Everyone has a navel. Some are large, some small, some are shallow, some deep. The size and shape make no difference, however, because the navel actually serves no purpose at all. Lots of parents have a nickname for the navel-the belly button. But I’ll bet you don’t know the name your doctor gives it. He calls it the umbilicus.

The navel is the scar left behind after the umbilical cord has been tied and allowed to drop off. In unborn infants, the cord is about three feet long and about half the thickness of a garden hose. This cord attaches the unborn baby to its mother’s uterus inside her body. Through it, the unborn child gets all of its nourishment and all the oxygen it needs. When the child is born and comes out of its mother’s vagina, part of the umbilical cord comes out too. The doctor immediately clamps and cuts the umbilical cord a couple of inches from the baby’s stomach. The cord is no longer necessary because the baby breathes air through its own lungs. As a result, it doesn’t need to get oxygen from its mother through the umbilical cord. Then, a few hours after childbirth, the infant is fed by a bottle or from its mother’s breast, and so doesn’t have to get nourishment any longer through the umbilical cord.

Animals that develop inside their mother’s uterus also have umbilical cords which the mother animal bites off at birth. Most animals are so smart they don’t need doctors when they have babies.

After the baby is a few day’s old, what is left of the umbilical cord dries up by itself and falls off. And what is left is the belly button, or navel.

How Our Kidneys and Bladder Work, Kidney Stone Symptoms, Disease, Infection and treatment

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 14th, 2006

The kidneys are two brownish-red structures, one on each side of the body, located in the back of the abdomen below the ribs. They have the shape of a lime bean, but each kidney is about the size of your fist. The kidneys are connected to long, hollow tubes called ureters, which connect with the bladder. The bladder is located in the front of the abdomen, way low clown.

The job of the kidneys is to filter out waste products from the blood, to keep in substances that are important so to the body, and to manufacture urine. To show how to filter something, you can go into the kitchen and try this experiment. First take an ordinary empty glass and cover it over with a paper napkin. Then take another glass and put some water in it. Next sprinkle some black pepper into the water. Now slowly pour the pepper water onto the paper napkin and let it leak into the empty glass below. You will see clear water dripping down fro the bottom of the paper napkin into the glass, and on top of the paper napkin you will see the pepper. The paper napkin has acted as a filter. It allowed water to pass through, but it held back the pepper.

The kidneys are clever about what they do, because they don’t allow nourishing substances, such as sugar certain proteins and fats, to be filtered out, but they do make such wastes as urea and extra salt and some chemicals pass into the urine. Practically all of the blood we have our bodies eventually reaches the kidneys.

From the blood, the kidneys take a certain amount of water and waste materials and manufacture urine. The urine drips down through the ureters, which are located along the back part of the abdomen, into the blade A grown-up’s kidneys will make about six full glasses of urine a (lay, t a child’s make much less, accord to his or her age and size.

When enough urine collects in the bladder we get an urge to urinate, and pass the urine out of our bodies rough a tube called the urethra. The urethra in boys empties through the penis. In girls the urethra empties through its own opening just above the vagina.

The Kidneys, two large, bean-shaped organs, located In the back part of the abdomen, filter waste products from the blood and manufacture urine. The urine passes from the kidneys down through a ureter, and into the bladder.

Blood entering the kidney through the renal artery passes into tiny blood vessels in the glomerulus, where the waste products and water that make up urine are filtered out. The urine then passes through the tubules, into the calyx of the kidney, and into the ureter.

For some peculiar reason, children sometimes allow their bladders to get too full before they pass their urine. Once in a while, they discover that more is inside than they think, and bingo!, there is an accident. One or two accidents and a child learns that it is always a good idea to empty his bladder in good time, especially before he might be going someplace where there might not be a toilet handy.

Every child should go to the bathroom before going to school or before taking a long ride. This way it will not be necessary to leave the classroom so often. And who wants to stop the car unnecessarily just because a child has forgotten to empty his bladder before going for a ride?

Doctors can learn some important things about a child’s health just by examining his urine. This is why every child should have a urine analysis clone every year. Urine examination can tell a good deal about whether the kidneys are working properly. If they are allowing the wrong substances to filter out into the urine, then something must be wrong with the kidneys. If sugar is allowed to pass into the urine, it may mean that the child has diabetes.

Normal urine is perfectly clean and contains no germs. As a matter of fact, in some primitive places in the world where there are very few doctors-as in some parts of Eskimo territory and in some jungle areas in Africa-the people used to use urine as an antiseptic to kill germs. Of course, if they had alcohol or another antiseptic medicine, they used that instead.

When we have a kidney infection, or an infection of the bladder, examination of the urine will show germs. In that case, the people in the laboratory will find out exactly what kind of germs they are and what antibiotic medicines will kill them. Today, most kidney and bladder infections can be cleared up within a few days without much trouble.

To keep the kidneys in good order, everybody should drink plenty of water and milk and fruit juices. A grown-up should drink at least eight glasses of fluids a day, and a child about half that amount. Then the filtering system of the kidneys will work at its best. If we drink too little, we might not get rid of enough waste materials and we might not pass enough urine. Also, if we drink too little, the urine might give us a burning sensation as it leaves the body

How Our Pancreas Works, Signs of Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 14th, 2006

The pancreas is a gland lying crosswise in the abdomen, just below the liver. It is an important organ because it makes the juices, or enzymes, that help to digest the foods we eat. The pancreas also has special cells that manufacture insulin, a substance that allows the body to use the sugar we have eaten for the production of energy.

The three main juices manufactured by the pancreas are called Trysin, lipase, and amylase. Trysin helps to digest proteins, including the meat, fish, and chicken we eat as well as protein found in milk, cheese, and other foods. Lipase helps to digest the fat we have eaten, and amylase is necessary for the digestion of sugar.

The juices of the pancreas reach the small intestines through a special duct, or hollow tube, that runs through the middle of the pancreas. This is called the pancreatic duct, and has one large and one small opening into the small intestines. Without these pancreatic juices, we could not digest our foods properly, and they might pass through the intestines without being absorbed into our bloodstream. Then we would be thin and undernourished and would not grow properly.

The insulin produced by the pancreas does not go through the pancreatic duct into the intestines. Instead, it is absorbed directly into the blood¬stream where it acts, along with oxygen, to turn the sugar we have absorbed into energy. You know, don’t you, that physical activity burns up a great amount of sugar? Well, if you didn’t have enough insulin, you would not have much energy and there would be too much sugar in your blood. That condition is known as diabetes, and sometimes it affects children. However, there isn’t too much to worry about, because 999 out of 1,000 children do not have diabetes.

Every so often-about once in 2,000 births-a child is born with a condition called cystic fibrosis. In this condition the pancreas, along with several other organs, doesn’t perform the way it should and fails to secrete enough lipase, amylase, and trypsin into the intestines. As a result, a child with cystic fibrosis will not digest food properly and therefore won’t grow the way he should. Also, because his bronchial tubes don’t function properly, he may get infections in his lungs. Children with this illness usually take antibiotics regularly every day, just as they take food every day, in order to protect them from infections.

How Our Liver Works, Vitamins and Treatment for liver Cancer Disease Symptoms

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 5th, 2006

The liver is the largest organ in the body. It stretches across the whole per part of the abdomen and is protected by the lower ribs, so that when something hits the area, the liver usually escapes injury. Most everybody seen slices of calf’s liver. Our livers is much the same-soft, reddish and meaty. Of course, our livers not sliced.

The liver serves as a powerhouse, a chemical factory, and a warehouse. It a powerhouse because it produces proteins that are necessary to for blood cells and to supply our tissues with on. Another function of the liver is to form bile, which flows into the intestines and allows us to digest the fats that we have eaten. The liver is a warehouse because it stores fats and proteins and sugars, and releases them into the bloodstream when we need energy for our daily activities, or when we need substances to replace used¬up materials. The liver is so important that without it we cannot live.

The liver does even more than what we have just mentioned. Like a huge chemical factory, it performs the following functions:

The portal vein collects blood from the intestines and takes it to the liver. Through this vein, food elements which have been absorbed from the intestines are brought to the liver, where their nourishing ingredients are taken out.

1. It forms chemicals necessary for blood clotting. If we had no liver and cut ourselves, we would continue to bleed and bleed without stopping.
2. It also forms chemicals that prevent too much blood clotting. If we had no liver, the blood in our arteries and veins, instead of flowing smoothly, might clot and not run at all.
3. It purifies the blood, getting rid of waste materials.
4. If a poison should accidentally get into the body, the liver will destroy and get rid of it.

The liver receives most of its blood from the intestines. When the nourishing foods and vitamins we have eaten are absorbed through the walls of our stomach and intestines, they go directly into vessels that lead to the liver. In that way, the liver receives all the fats and proteins and sugar and minerals and vitamins that we have digested. The liver is such a remarkable organ because it can do its job even when it is inflamed or damaged. In some sicknesses, a large part of the liver may be out of order, yet the remaining part will keep us going until recovery takes place. Of course, we must be sure that we don’t cause damage to our liver. For instance, here are some rules to hell) keep your liver in good condition.

1. Avoid as many infections as possible, because germs and viruses can easily reach the liver and inflame it. When you are told to take medicines, take them without making a fuss. Then the chances of a liver infection will
not be very great.
2. Avoid eating or drinking anything unless it is approved by your parents or other grown-ups. Some children accidentally swallow harmful substances that might poison their liver. It is particularly important to keep things like cleaning fluids and detergents and insect killers and antiseptics and drugs away from small children. They don’t know any better, and they may think they are good to eat or drink.
3. To work properly, the liver needs a large supply of minerals and vitamins, as well as a good supply of fats and proteins and sugar. This means that a child must follow a good diet at all times. It won’t help a child’s liver if he balks when told to eat fruits and vegetables, or fails to drink plenty of milk. And if his doctor wants him to take vitamins, he should take them without squawking.

Intestine Flu Infection and Cancer Symptoms of Irritable Bbowel Cleansing Syndrome

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 5th, 2006

Food in the Small Intestines
The small intestines, which connect with the stomach, are long, hollow tubes all curled up. They, too, have millions of tiny glands that make juices like saliva. They, too, have muscle walls that help to churn the food and pass it on. The small intestines, if they weren’t all curled up, would look something like a garden hose, only they are about half as thick. The intestinal juices of the intestines act upon the food and prepare it to be absorbed into the body, where it will supply energy and stuff to grow on.

Do you know what it means to be absorbed? Here’s an experiment you can try in the kitchen that will tell about absorption: First, take some ordinary water from the faucet and spill a little of it on to the kitchen table. Next, take a kitchen towel-paper or cloth, it makes no difference-and place it directly on the spilled water. Wait a few seconds, and then pick up the towel. What happened to the water? It’s not on the table anymore. It has been absorbed into the towel. Much the same thing happens inside us. The food that we have eaten is digested in the small intestines and is absorbed through the walls of the intestines and goes to various parts of our body where it supplies energy for us to run and play and think. And it also supplies us with materials that make us grow and stay strong.

Food in the Large Intestines
By the time the food has passed through the small intestines, almost all the nourishing, valuable, important things it contained have been absorbed into the body. What is left is mostly water and waste material. This water and waste material pass into the large intestines, which connect with the small intestines. In the large intestines water is absorbed through the walls and into the body. This is important because our bodies must have plenty of water if they are to work properly.

Food is broken down and churned in the stomach before it passes into the small Intestines, where real digestion starts, aided by secretions from the liver, the pancreas, and cells lining the walls of the intestines.

The large intestines are about twice the width of the small intestines but not nearly so long. The inner lining of the large intestines has millions of glands that can absorb water, and its walls have muscles that contract and push along the waste material. By the time the waste material has passed through the large intestines and has lost most of its water, it becomes solid and somewhat hard. And when it reaches the very end of the large intestines, it causes us to want to have a bowel movement and get rid of it. When we do have a bowel movement, we get rid of all the useless solid wastes.

How long do you think it takes from the time we first eat a meal until it goes clown the foodpipe, reaches the stomach, then goes into the small intestines, then into the large intestines, and finally is gotten rid of when we have a bowel movement? For food to slide down the foodpipe into the stomach takes only a few seconds, but the food then stays in the stomach for a few hours while it is being churned up and digested. It usually takes from breakfast to lunchtime for the food to pass out of the stomach into the small intestines. When the stomach is good and empty, you will begin to feel hungry again. This happens about lunchtime, and so you eat lunch. It takes from lunchtime until supper time for the stomach to empty again, and when it does, you will feel hungry once again and are ready for supper. And, of course, we all know that it takes from supper time until the next morning before you again feel empty and hungry and are ready for another breakfast.

And so we see that it takes almost an entire clay for food to pass through our bodies, from the time we take it into our mouths until we get rid of its wastes. In the meantime, it has given us all the things we need to grow and be healthy and happy.

Surgery for Bloated Stomach Problems Due to Acid, Fat, Stapling and Banding

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 5th, 2006

Some children don’t like ice cream, but love spinach. Some children like bananas, but not peanut butter. Animals, too, have their own special likes and dislikes when it comes to what they eat. Why do we like some foods and not others? Well, we all have little sputa on our tongues that we call taste buds. They are responsible for giving us the carious tastes we have. Without them, foods would have very little taste.

In fact, almost everything would taste just about the same. How would you like it if cereal tasted like applesauce, or if peas tasted like grapes? Now, a child’s buds may like the taste of one particular food but not that of another. Although sometimes a preference for one food over another is the result of an attitude, everyone’s taste buds are different, so that even sisters and brothers may not like the same foods.

It’s nice that we really don’t have to eat things we don’t like, even if they happen to be good for us. This is because there are enough different foods whose taste we do enjoy that are also good for us. Did you know that some children become big and healthy grownups without ever having eaten eggs or drunk milk? These children have to flay away from these nourishing foods because these foods make them sick. When they drink milk or eat eggs, their skin might break out in an itchy rash, Dr their eyes might get swollen, red, and teary, or they might get cramps and pains in the stomach. Such children are allergic to these foods, although they may be perfectly able to eat and drink everything else. Luckily, they can eat plenty of other nourishing foods instead.

There are several things in foods that our bodies use from the time we are born. These essentials are called proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. We must get plenty of them if we are to grow normally.

Some foods have more protein than others; some foods have more fat than protein; some have more carbohydrate than protein; and still other foods may be rich in vitamins but poor in minerals.

Ulcers of the stomach and duodenum may respond to medical management if the child is kept on a proper diet that includes large quantities of milk.

For example, if we ate chocolate and nothing else, day in and day out, we wouldn’t get enough protein or vitamins or minerals in our diet and our muscles wouldn’t grow as strong as they should, and perhaps our teeth would get lots of cavities in them. If we ate only fish or chicken all the time, we’d get plenty of protein, but we wouldn’t have enough carbohydrates to supply us with the pep and energy we need to run and play. And if we never ate butter or took cream on our foods, or put gravy on our potatoes, we might not get enough fat in our diet, and we might turn out to be terribly skinny. When we eat bread and jelly, or noodles, or spaghetti, or rice, or potatoes, we are sure to have plenty of carbohydrates for the energy we use up every (lay. Cake and candy and ice cream, too, have loads of carbohydrates in them, but we shouldn’t eat them until we have finished the main part of our meal.

Vitamins and minerals are present in many of our foods and in many of the things we drink. They are necessary to help our organs work properly and to allow our bones and muscles to grow. If we don’t get enough vitamins, for example, our eyes might not see as well as they do, or our skin might not be as soft and smooth as it is, or our bones might not grow straight. Vitamins are found in especially large amounts in fresh fruits and vegetables and milk, so it is really important for us to include a lot of these things in our diet. We’ll get a good supply of vitamins if we eat such things as lettuce and celery and carrots and string beans and spinach and apples and cherries and peaches and oranges.

Minerals are present in tiny quantities in most of our foods, and we really need only small amounts of them to be healthy. The minerals our bodies needs have odd names, but we might want t memorize them anyway. For instant there is calcium, which we need for our teeth and bones to grow. There is lots calcium in mill:, so if we drink a
w glasses each day, that matter will taken care of. Then there is phosphorus, also present in milk, which we because calcium won’t work properly in our bodies unless plenty of phosphorus is there, too. They work together like brothers and sisters. Also, we must have sodium and chlorides and potassium, and we do have them in many of our foods. They supply the salt for all our body fluids. Without the proper amounts of sodium and chlorides and potassium, we might not breathe as easily as we do, and we might not be able to exercise as much as we want to. And, finally, our diets must have iron if our bodies are to work the way they should. Unless we have enough iron, our blood will not be healthy, and we might get sleepy and tired too early in the day. On Sundays, we might even fall asleep before the Disney show comes on television! Now wouldn’t that be awful? Fortunately, there is plenty of iron in the fruits and vegetables we eat.

Chewing and Swallowing
Most of us learn, quite early, to chew thoroughly and not to take too much food into our mouths at one time. Of course, there are a few children who stuff themselves so their cheeks bulge out like huge apples. Children who do that can’t chew properly, which is bad because then the saliva in the mouth doesn’t mix with and soften the food before it is swallowed. And when some¬one tries to get down a big chunk of unchewed food, sometimes it gets stuck. And then he has to cough up or spit out the food, and that looks terrible and makes an awful mess.

When we chew our food thoroughly and slowly, our teeth break up the big pieces and our saliva is able to mix with and wet the food properly, so it can glide down smoothly from the back of the mouth into the food pipe and then on down to the stomach. If someone swallows before he has chewed completely, he often swallows a lot of air along with his food, and this air when it gets into the stomach-may cause hiccuping and burping, or it may even cause a gas pain in the stomach. Of course, ‘no one wants to listen to someone else’s loud burps or hiccups, nor do they want to see a child get a stomachache.

The most common causes of upset stomach are overeating and gulping down food. Such stomach and Intestinal upsets can be avoided by developing good eating habits.

1. Always take a portion that will fit your mouth. Never stuff; there is plenty of time to eat.
2. Keep chewing until all the big pieces are chopped up. Don’t swallow until then.
3. Keep your lips closed while you chew. If you smack your lips you will make a lot of noise when you chew.
4. Don’t talk while you are chewing. Talk only after your mouth is empty.
5. Don’t put any more food into your mouth until the last mouth food has completely disappeared down your throat.
6. Drink only between mouthfuls, when your mouth is empty. Don’t drink to wash down food that hasn’t been chewed thoroughly. Then you won’t burp or hiccup, or get a gas pain.

Food and Drink When It Reaches the Stomach
When you swallow, the fluid or food slides down the foodpipe, or esophagus, which runs from the back of the throat down to the stomach. The stomach looks like a sack, hollow on the inside so it can hold plenty of food and fluid. In a grown-up, the stomach is about the size of a football. Naturally, it is smaller in a child. The inside lining of the stomach has millions of tiny glands that pour out a fluid much like the saliva in our mouths. This fluid is called stomach juice or gastric juice. The outer wall of the stomach is made of muscle that churns and mashes the food into tinier and tinier pieces, so that it looks a lot like something that has just come out of a blender. When the food is all soft and mushy, it leaves the stomach and passes into the small intestines.

The stomach is the organ of the digestive tract which breaks down food into small particles. It is located between the esophagus (foodpipe) and the duodenum (the first portion of the small intestine). Many people think the stomach does most of the digesting of food, but this is not true.

How Our Lungs Work, lung fibrosis and Cancer Treatment

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 3rd, 2006

Our lungs work for us clay and night, clay after day, month after month, year after year, throughout our lives. About every three or four seconds, they take in air containing the oxygen we need, and breathe out air containing the carbon dioxide and excess water that our bodies must get rid of. Like the heart, the lungs never rest. In a way, muscles and bones are luckier, for they rest when we sit still or lie down.

Everyone has two lungs, a right and a left one, lying inside the chest. The lungs fill with air and expand when we breathe in, and they give out air and contract when we breathe out. It is good to get into the habit of breathing deeply, for then we take in large amounts of the oxygen that is so necessary for all the organs and tissues of the body.

The lungs are very light and their insides are spongy. Millions of tiny air sacs, so small that they can only be seen under a microscope, make up the main structure of lungs. Each one of these air spaces, or sacs, is surrounded by a thin layer of special lung cells and by tissues that are elastic. When we breathe in-we call that inhaling-the elastic tissue relaxes and allows the sacs to fill with air. When we breathe out-we call that exhaling-the elastic tissue around the air sacs contracts and forces the air out.

The thin layer of lung cells has the special ability to take out the oxygen from the air we breathe. This oxygen goes directly into the blood and circulates to every part of the body. These same cells also have the ability of taking the carbon dioxide out of the blood. This is good because carbon dioxide is a main part of the waste that results from the using of the oxygen. The lung cells also allow a certain amount of water to leave our blood stream and we breathe that out, too, when we exhale.

If you want to prove to yourself that our breathe out water, all you have to do is get up close to a window or mirror and take a deep breath. Now, breathe out hard against the window or mirror. How it clouds up? Feel it, and you’ll see it is wet. That’s excess water that our body didn’t want. Even a child gets rid of about two big glassfuls of water every clay, just by breathing out. And a grown-up exhales about four glassfuls each day.
As we all know, air is breathed in through the nose, goes to the back of the throat, and down the windpipe, or trachea, into the bronchial tubes and finally to the lungs. When your nose gets clogged with a cold, you have to
breathe through your mouth.

People are especially careful these days to take good care of their lungs. They have begun to realize that many serious illnesses can result from neglecting the lungs. There are many ways in which we can help to keel) the lungs healthy. Here are a few of them:

1. Always try to avoid breathing polluted air. Such air, if you breathe it year after year, may damage your lungs. If you live in a neighborhood where there is smog, or where factories give off a great deal of smoke, or in places where the traffic is exceptionally heavy, you should try to keep that air out of your house or apartment. Ono way to do it is to have an air conditioner. If you don’t have an air conditioner and the air is particularly bad on a certain day, keep your windows and doors closed.

2. Go to nearby parks or beach or to the country, every chance you get. This tell help to fill your lungs with good, clean air.

3. Try not to get too many colds as this may lead to infection of the bronchial tubes or lungs. While a cold or bronchitis once in a while doesn’t do any serious damage, if you get such infections over and over again, they can cause damage. So take your parents’ advice about catching colds. And read how to avoid colds in the section of these books dealing with sickness.

4. If you have an allergy, such as asthma, don’t neglect to take your medicine and make sure to keep your appointments with your doctor.

5. Make up your mind now, while you are still young, that you are not going to smoke when you grow up. It has been found that smoking, especially cigarette smoking, is terrible for the lungs.

6. As you grow older, join the various clubs that are fighting air pollution. Great work is being done by these organizations to clean up dirty air and to keep clean air clean.

7. Never burn anything out of doors unless a grown-up says it is all right to do so. Did you know that when your parents and grand¬parents were children, people used to burn the leaves that fell from the trees? We don’t do that anymore because it pollutes the air. And we don’t burn garbage as we used to many years ago.

Leukemia, Low Hemoglobin and Cord Blood Transfusions Hepatitis

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 2nd, 2006

A transfusion is a means of giving blood to another person. It is recommended most often in an emergency, when someone has lost a great deal of blood due to an accident or serious illness. We mentioned in another part of this book that children have any¬where from three to four quarts of blood. If a child loses a quart or more, he or she might need to replace it with a transfusion. This can be done easily and safely by getting blood from a blood bank.

A blood bank is a place where people go to give some of their blood so it can be used whenever a really sick person needs it. The blood is stored in a refrigerator and can be kept there for a couple of weeks, to be used when necessary. People who give their blood to a bank are called donors. Patients who receive the blood are called recipients.

Children cannot give their blood; only adults can. Since adults have five to six quarts in their bodies, it does them no harm whatever to give away a pint (two glasses full) as often as every few months. Their bone marrow makes new blood quickly, and in a few days all the blood they have given away is replaced.

When blood from the donor fails to match that of the patient, the red blood cells clump together. In such cases, the donor blood Is not used.

All people belong to one of four main blood groups, or types. Our blood type stays the same all our lives. The four types are called A, B, AB, and 0. When giving a transfusion, the doctor always matches the donor blood with 1he recipient blood. And so we give type A blood to a type A recipient, type B blood to a type B patient, and ao forth. In great emergencies, we might give type 0 blood to anyone, since type 0 blood seems to be accepted by most people who have types A, B, or AB blood as well as those with type O.

Transfusions are simple to give. All that is done is to take a plastic bag urge enough to hold a pint of blood, ‘attach it to a tube and needle, and slide the needle gently into the arm of the patient. The blood then runs in smoothly and without causing pain. In a matter of an hour or so, by this method, the doctor can replace the blood a patient has lost. If more blood is needed, it can be taken from the blood bank.

It is a pretty good idea for all children to know their blood type, especially if they are going on trips to places where laboratory facilities for determining blood types aren’t available. Then, the child can wear a bracelet or a neck¬lace on which his or her blood type is printed.

When children reach eighteen years of age, they are permitted to become blood donors. Most towns and cities have Red Cross Centers where people can give a pint of blood every few months. By doing this, they may save someone’s life. Just think how wonderful it is to save a sick person’s life without any harm to yourself!

White and Red Blood Cell, Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking and Research

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 2nd, 2006

Everyone has blood inside his body, and when someone cuts himself, a bit of it runs out. This nothing to be frightened about, since each of us has about three or more quarts of blood.

Blood is an interesting fluid. It is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, little specks of material called platelets, and plasma. Blood cells are also called corpuscles. The plasma is a pale yellow fluid in which the red and white blood corpuscles, and the platelets too, are carried throughout the body inside the arteries and veins. If you have, let us say, three quarts of blood, then a little more than one quart is made up of the red and white cells and a little less than two quarts is made of plasma.

Of course, you know what blood looks like when you cut yourself. But have you ever seen plasma? You probably have. When you skin your knee, for example, you will notice a yellowish fluid ooze from the scrape. That’s plasma. It contains many things, but one of its important functions is to help your blood to clot and form a scab.

Plasma has other important jobs, too. It carries all the absorbed nutriments (the foods we have eaten and have been absorbed) to the tissues. Without plasma, there would be no way for all the nourishing things we have eaten to get to the muscles and other tissues where they are needed. And, finally, it is plasma’s job to carry away from the tissues all the waste products. These are carried by the plasma to the kidneys. The wastes are then gotten rid of by the kidneys in the form of urine, and when we urinate, they are let out of our bodies.

A-white blood cell
B-red blood cell
C-plasma
D-platelet

In addition to plasma, all of us have billions of red blood cells in our bodies. Each cell lives for about two months and is then replaced by a new one. Red cells are formed inside the marrow of our bones. (If you don’t know what marrow is, ask your mother or father to show you the marrow inside of a chicken bone, or a ham bone, or a steak bone.)

The red blood cells have the job of carrying oxygen to all our tissues and of carrying carbon dioxide to our lungs. When we take a deep breath, we breathe in loads of good oxygen from the air, and when we breathe out we get rid of the carbon dioxide that comes from our tissues.

We don’t have as many white cells in our blood as we have red cells, but these white cells are still extremely important to us. They are the cells that fight against infection and disease. They kill the germs and viruses that get into the body when we are sick. Without them, we’d be in pretty bad shape.

Our blood platelets help the blood to clot when it leaves the body. If it weren’t for platelets, when we cut ourselves the blood might keep running, instead of stopping and forming a scab or clot.

And so, blood is very necessary and we should do everything possible to take good care of it. Do you want to know some things you can do to keep your blood healthy?

1. Breathe deeply so that your blood gets a good supply of oxygen from the air and so that your blood can get rid of as much car¬bon dioxide as possible.
2. Eat a good diet, especially foods with plenty of iron in them, such as meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Iron is needed to keep the red blood cells healthy, so they can take plenty of oxygen to the tissues.
3. Exercise every day, as this will help your blood to flow the way it should to every nook and cranny of your body tissues.
4. Clean every scratch or cut thoroughly. This will help to prevent germs from getting into your bloodstream.
5. Stay in bed as long as you are told to when you’re sick. This will give your white blood cells the best chance to fight and kill the germs that have made you sick.

How to Monitor Heart Rate and Blood Vessels Work

Filed Under What Goes Inside Us | November 2nd, 2006

Every human being has a heart that pumps blood throughout his body. This is absolutely necessary, because blood carries the oxygen taken from the lungs, and all the digested foods that have been eaten, to the tissues. Without oxygen, nourishing sugars, and proteins and fats, our organs could not possibly work or live.

Did you ever place your ear against someone’s chest and listen to the heartbeat? Do it, and you will hear a sound like thub-dub each time the heart beats. A child’s heart beats about eighty to ninety times a minute, while a grown-up’s heart beats somewhat slower.

The heart is made of a special kind of muscle that contracts and relaxes automatically, without our having to do anything about it. You might think the heart is shaped like the pictures on a candy box or a Valentine’s Day card, but it really isn’t. The actual shape of the heart is shown in the diagram. It is about the size of an orange in a child, and of a small grapefruit in a grown-up.

The heart, commonly believed to be on the left side, is actually more toward the center of the chest and even extends over into the right side. It is surrounded on three sides by the lungs.

Blood from the body flows to the right side of the heart and is pumped to the lungs to get oxygen. It then flows to the left side of the heart and is pumped throughout the rest of the body.

The heart is hollow on the inside and has four parts. The two chambers on the right side receive blood that has already traveled to all the tissues of the body. This blood is a dark reddish purple color. This dark blood is then pumped by the heart through large vessels, called arteries, to the lungs where it picks up a new oxygen supply. The oxygen then turns the blood a bright red color. It is then returned from the lungs to the left side of the heart. The heart then pumps the blood from its two chambers on the left side into the largest artery in the body, the aorta. The aorta connects with smaller arteries throughout the body. After the blood delivers its oxygen and its vitamins and chemicals and nourishing food elements to each and every part of the body, veins then carry the blood back again to the right side of the heart. Once the blood is carried through the veins back to the heart, the whole process is repeated over again.

How much blood do you think a boy or girl has? Well, take a look at the quart container of milk and imagine that there are three of them. That’s about how much blood, three quarts, each of you has. Your mother may have about five quarts of blood and your father, because he is bigger, about six quarts.

The heart is one of the most remarkable organs in the body. It beats about 12,000 times a day, whether you’re asleep or awake. And each clay, it pumps your three quarts of blood through your body about 3,000 times!

Just as we take good care of our teeth by brushing them regularly and visiting our dentist every few months, we must also do what is good for our heart. You remember that regular exercise keeps the muscles of the arms and legs good and strong. Well, the heart is a muscle too, and we keep it strong by playing and exercising regularly. If we sit around and do nothing all day, sooner or later the heart won’t work as well as it should. Also, if you get fat from overeating, your heart will get fat, too, and that’s not good for your health.

When you run and play, your heart beats fast and hard and pumps your blood more rapidly through your body. Sometimes, when you run very fast for a long time, you can hear your heart beating and pounding in your chest. This is healthy, for it exercises the heart muscles and helps keep them strong. Sometimes, when you get frightened your heart beats fast, too, but. this can’t hurt you. As soon as you realize there’s nothing to be afraid of, your heart slows down to normal.

When you rest or sleep, your heart beats more slowly. It rests too. The next time you go to your doctor, ask him if you can listen to your own heart through his stethoscope. You will actually be able to hear your heart pump your own blood. Here are some rules to follow to help keep your heart healthy:

1. Run and play and exercise regularly.
2. Don’t eat too much, so you don’t get fat.
3. Stay in bed as long as your doctor tells you to when you are sick. 4. Don’t let yourself get overtired from playing too hard.
5. Eat all the good things your mother tells you to.
6. Get at least eight to ten hours of sleep each night.

The Arterial and Venous Systems. Blood is propelled by the contractions of the heart through the various arteries to the tissues of the body. The pulse is an indication of these contractions, which are transmitted along the arterial system. There is no pulse in the venous system, blood is returned to the heart by the force of gravity and by the pressure transmitted The arteries that carry the blood from the heart to all the organs have a smooth inner lining, so the blood can flow quickly over it, and walls containing small muscles that can contract and relax, so the blood can be pushed along without stopping. When the muscles in the walls of the arteries contract, the blood is pushed along The capillaries are very small blood vessels that directly nourish the body cells.

The arterioles carry blood from the arteries and the venues carry It toward the veins faster. When the muscles in the walls of the arteries relax, the blood flows more slowly. This action causes a pulse. You can feel the pulse yourself by placing your fingers on your own wrist or temple, or more easily, by feeling someone else’s wrist or temple. The pulse you feel means that the heart has just beaten, or contracted, pumping the blood faster through the artery.

Very often when you see the doctor, he will feel your pulse and look at his watch while holding your wrist. He is ting how fast your pulse is beat Generally, when you have a fever feel sick, your pulse beats much faster than usual.

At the same time as the blood tiers all its nourishment to the tissues, picks up waste materials that will Fentually be gotten rid of by your body. For example, as the tissues use oxygen, they give back carbon dioside to the blood. And when the sugar yes been used by your tissue cells, lacticiteid and other waste chemicals are even back. These substances are carjed to the heart through the veins. The lams, like the arteries, have a smooth peer lining, but their walls have much muscle tissue. As a result, veins can’t contract like arteries. The blood in the veins gets back to the heart by being pushed along from behind by the pumping action of the heart. Imagine a whole line of freight trains being pushed along the tracks by an engine p the back. The engine is like the heart, and the trains way up front are Ue the blood in your veins.

The arteries get smaller and smaller as they extend into the tissues until they hecome tiny, tiny little passage ways only big enough for a few blood cells to pass through at one time. These tiny blood vessels are called capillaries. They surround all of our tissues, and it is through these capillaries that the blood gets to every single part of the body. Then, after the blood has supplied the tissues and picked up the waste, it goes back into tiny, tiny veins. As the veins go back toward the heart, they get bigger and bigger.

The flowing of the blood through the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins is called the circulation. To keep our circulation in good working order we must move about and exercise a lot. Sitting still in front of the television set all clay is not the proper way to take care of our circulation. But we shouldn’t put a strain on our circulation, either, by being so active that we don’t get enough rest and sleep.