Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The skin is one of the largest organs of the body. In humans, it accounts for about 12 to 15 percent of total body weight and covers 1.5 to 2 m 2 of surface area. [1] 3D still showing human integumentary system. The skin (integument) is a composite organ, made up of at least two major layers of tissue: the epidermis and the dermis. [2]
The epidermis, "epi" coming from the Greek language meaning "over" or "upon", is the outermost layer of the skin. It forms the waterproof, protective wrap over the body's surface, which also serves as a barrier to infection and is made up of stratified squamous epithelium with an underlying basal lamina.
The word skin originally only referred to dressed and tanned animal hide and the usual word for human skin was hide. Skin is a borrowing from Old Norse skinn "animal hide, fur", ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *sek-, meaning "to cut" (probably a reference to the fact that in those times animal hide was commonly cut off to be used as garment).
Two-point discrimination (2PD) is the ability to discern that two nearby objects touching the skin are truly two distinct points, not one.It is often tested with two sharp points during a neurological examination [1]: 632 [2]: 71 and is assumed to reflect how finely innervated an area of skin is.
Neuroimmunology – study of the nervous system, and immunology, the study of the immune system. Neuropharmacology – study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system. Neurophysiology – study of the function (as opposed to structure) of the nervous system. Systems neuroscience – studies the function of neural circuits and ...
The term is derived from integumentum, which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or figurative sense, it could mean a cloak or a disguise. [2] In English, "integument" is a fairly modern word, its origin having been traced back to the early seventeenth century; and refers to a material or layer with which anything is enclosed, clothed, or covered in the sense of "clad" or "coated", as ...
[5] [20] The most common type is nonmelanoma skin cancer, which occurs in at least 2–3 million people per year. [ 6 ] [ 21 ] This is a rough estimate; good statistics are not kept. [ 1 ] Of nonmelanoma skin cancers, about 80% are basal-cell cancers and 20% squamous-cell skin cancers. [ 14 ]
Blood vessels with α 1-adrenergic receptors are present in the skin, the sphincters [4] of gastrointestinal system, kidney (renal artery) [5] and brain. [6] During the fight-or-flight response vasoconstriction results in decreased blood flow to these organs. This accounts for the pale appearance of the skin of an individual when frightened.