Physiology is the study of the normal working of the body. It is essential that its principles should be understood by nurses and doctors, for only if you know how the body works normally can you understand what is happening during disease. This first chapter covers the whole of physiology in outline, so that as later you read the chapters devoted to giving details of the various systems, you will be able to see where each system fits into the scheme of things. THE CELL You can learn a great deal about physiology by considering the requirements of a simple, single-celled organism such as the...

I first became interested in prolactin a little over two years ago. I was then working in Nairobi and I knew nothing about the hormone apart from its role in lactation. Professor Mohammed Hyder of the Department of Zoology in the University of Nairobi was interested in the endocrine mechanisms which enable Tilapia fish to adapt to water with a very high electrolyte content. He invited me to a seminar given by Professor Howard Bern which was largely concerned with the role prolactin plays in fluid and electrolyte balance in sub-mammalian vertebrates. This inspired me to begin a programme of...

of these subjects and should be kept constantly at hand so that it can readily be consulted when difficult topics arise. I hope that it may succeed in reducing the fear with which many nurses face the sciences with which the book deals. Section 1 BIOLOGY 2 The cell and its requirements The world of living things is conveniently and conven tionally divided into two great groups, the animals and the plants. Broadly speaking the important feature which distinguishes plants is that they can manufacture most of the substances they require by trapping and using various forms of outside energy, in...

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry of living organisms, of the ways in which food is used to serve all the many needs of the body. Biochemistry is closely connected with nutrition, the study of the types and amounts of various materials required in the diet. Biochemistry is also inextricably int rtwined with endo crinology, the study of hormones, for most of the hormones exert their actions by altering the behaviour of chemical reactions within the body. The central problem in biochemistry is that of the supply of energy. Energy is needed for a multitude of purposes of which muscular...

to Human Physiology D. F. Horrobin Published by MTP Press Limited SI. Leonard's House, Lancaster, England Copyright (c) 1973, D. F. Horrobin ISBN-13: 978. . ()-85200-048-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2349-8 001: 10. 1007/978-94-010-2349-8 First pUblished 1973 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publishers except for the quotation of brief passages for the purpose of review Reprinted 1975 and 1976 by the Blackburn Times Press, Northgate, Blackburn BBZ lAB Contents Introduction 2 The Maintenance of a Constant Internal Environment 7 21 3 Biochemistry The...

The study of the normal function of the animal and human organisms and of the diseases which disturb that normal func- tion is largely the study of control mechanisms. These control mechanisms are essential for the survival of an organism in a more or less hostile environment. In many ways they clearly resemble the control mechanisms devised by electronic engin- eers for running machinery of all kinds and there are many remarkable parallels between biology and engineering. However, it should not be forgotten that the biological systems were on the scene first and that the engineering is a...