Lesson 5

THE STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY

Parts of the body
Most external parts of the body have ordinary English names as well as anatomical
names.

When patients speak about their problem they often refer to a part of the body:
Ex: I am having trouble with my hip, shoulder, knee.
The doctor often needs to ask about a part of the body:
Ex: Do you get pain in the/your chest, stomach, back?
Describing radiation of pain
A patient is telling the doctor about his back pain and the parts of the body it
radiates to.

It starts in the back. Then it seems to go into the right

buttock and down the back of the right thigh to the
knee.

Functions of the body

You are hungry. You are in a restaurant and the waiter brings you food. = you
smell it. It stimulates your appetite – you want to eat. Your mouth waters, filling
with saliva. = you take a bite of the food. It tastes good and you chew it and
swallow it.
In addition to smell and taste, the senses include sight (vision), hearing, and
touch (also called sensation or feeling). To ask about the senses, doctors use the
questions:

What is your sight/hearing/sense of smell/sense of taste like?

Is your sight/hearing/sense of smell/sense of taste normal?

To ask about the sense of touch, doctors talk about numbness (loss of sensation):

Have you noticed any numbness in your fingers or toes?

Other functions:
Function Verb Noun
Speaking speak speech
walking walk Walk/gait
Breathing Breath in/take a breathe breath
Respiration in/inhale
Exhale/breath out
Urination Urinate Urine
Micturition Micturate

Defecation Defecate Faeces

Pass faeces /pass stools Stools
Menstruation Menstruate Menstrual period
Have a period Monthly period

When taking a history, doctors can ask:

Do you have any Trouble Walking?
Difficulty Breathing?
Problems Passing urine?
 With your speech?
Pain When you breath in?

When auscultating a patient’s lungs, the doctor tells the patient:

Take a deep breath, then breathe out completely.
There are less common things we do less often. (when we are hot, we sweat; when
we are nervous we shake; when we are sad we cry).
Doctors can ask:
Do you sweat/shake more than usual?

THE SKELETON
The bones are the principal organ of support, and the passive organs of
locomotion. Connected together in the skeleton, they form a framework of hard
material, affording the attachment to the soft parts, maintaining them in the due
position, giving stability to the whole fabric, and preserving its shape.
The skeleton consists of the bones of the head trunk and limbs. The entire
skeleton in the adult is made up of 206 bones of which 34 are single while 86 are
paired.
The bones of the skull may be divided into two groups:
1. The cranial bones, which bound the cranial cavity, which contains the brain.
These are the occipital, the frontal, the ethmoid, and the sphenoid which are single,
and the parietal and temporal, which are paired.
2. The facial bones, which support the soft tissues of the face, and help in the
formation of the orbits and the nasal cavity.
The bones of the trunk consist of the vertebrae, sternum and ribs.
The vertebrae are of the irregular type of bones, consisting of a solid body
somewhat circular in shape. From the outer part of the vertebrae arise three
projections known as processes: the spinous process and two lateral processes.
Each vertebra is larger in size than the one above it, so as to be able to support the
greater weight demanded of it. Each vertebrae has a pad of cartilage, which acts as
a buffer, protecting the spinal cord from injury, and allowing a certain flexibility in
the spinal column.
There are twelve pairs of ribs attached at the back to the dorsal vertebrae. They
incline downwards and the seven upper pairs are attached to the sternum or breast-
bone in front. The last five pairs are called false ribs. The eighth, ninth and tenth
pairs are connected with the cartilage before reaching the sternum and the last two
are known as “floating ribs” because their anterior ends are free.
The sacral bones are fused together into one firm mass of bone tissue. Coccyx
consists of four imperfectly formed vertebrae fused together. The thorax or chest is
a bony cage formed by the sternum and costal cartilages in front, the ribs are on
each side, and the bodies of the thoracic vertebrae behind. It is cone –shaped, being
narrow above and broad below, flattened from before backward and shorter in
front than in the back. It contains and protects the principal organs of respiration
and circulation.
The upper extremities. The bones of the upper limbs are: the Shoulder Girdle
which is formed of the clavicle ( clavicular or collar bone ), and the scapula or
shoulder blade. The Humerus or upper arm bone. The Ulna or elbow bone. It is
the larger bone of the forearm. The Radius is placed on the lateral side of the ulna
and is shorter and smaller than the ulna. The Carpal Bones or wrist composed of
eight small bones united by ligaments. The Metacarpals or body of hand. The
Phalanges.
The pelvis and the lower extremities. The two hip bones which articulate
with each other in front form the pelvic girdle. The upper part of the sacrum fills
the gap behind. These three bones form a rigid and complete ring. The pelvic
girdle serves to attach the lower extremities to the axial skeleton.
The bones of the lower limbs are : The Femur or thigh bone. The Pattela or
Knee cap. The Tibia and the Fibula, the two bones of the leg. The Tarsal Bones,
seven in number. The largest and the strongest of the tarsal bones is the calcaneus
or heel bone. The Metatarsals or sole and instep of the foot. The Phalanges, two in
the great toe, and three in each of the other toes.
Exercises
I. Answer the following questions :
1.What are the bones? 2. What do they form in the skeleton? 3. What should be
learnt when studying a bone for the first time? 4. What does the skeleton consist
of? 5. Of how many bones is the entire skeleton made up? 6. What are the
bones of the skull? 7. What are the bones of the trunk? 8. Describe the
vertebrae! 9. Describe the ribs! 10. Into what are the sacral bones fused
together? 11. What does coccyx consist of? 12. Describe the thorax! 13. What
are the bones of the upper limbs? 14. What are the bones of the lower limbs?
15. What is the pelvic girdle? 16. What does the pelvic girdle serve to?
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II. Give the antonyms to:
For the first time, various, diverse, single, regular, solid, outer part, long bones,
upper limbs, attachment, lower part.

III. Give other words of the same root and state what parts of speech they are:
Study, classify, attach, fuse, respiration, circulation, injury, use, admiration,
hope, unemployed

IV. Give nouns corresponding to the following verbs:

To discuss, to call, to think, to spell, to educate, to attach, to know, to live, to
read, to publish

V. Translate into English:

Sternul sau osul pieptului este un os plat (flat), lung de aproape de 15 cm (six
inches), situat pe linia mediană (in the mediane line) în fața cutiei toracice.
Partea superioară se numește manubrium (the manubrium) ; partea din mijloc și
cea mai mare se numește corp (body) sau gladiolus (gladiolus) ; partea cea mai
de jos este numită (is termed) ensiform (ensiform) sau apendicele xifoid
(xiphoid process). Pe ambele părți ale manubriului și corpului sunt mici cavități
(notches) pentru articulația cu capetele sternale ale celor șapte cartilagii costale
superioare. Apendicele xifoid nu se articuleayă cu nici o coastă, dar permite
inserția (attachment) unor mușchi abdominali (abdominal muscles).
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