PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Health and Social Care Assignment Sample.

Table of Contents
1.0

1.0 Main structure and functioning of human body............................................................................... 3

1.1. Outline of main anatomical features ............................................................................................... 3
1.2. Interactions of body systems for body functions and growth ......................................................... 3
2.0. Relationship between body functioning and relevant body systems.............................................. 6
2.1 Normal body responses in everyday activities ................................................................................. 6
2.2 Responses of body in cellular and tissue structure and physiology ................................................. 7
2.3. Coordination of body in internal activities ...................................................................................... 7
3.0. Collection of routine data in health and social care that helps in planning care ............................ 8
3.1 Recording and use of routine measures in health and social care ................................................... 8
3.2 Routine measures provide information of body functions............................................................... 8
3.3. Information about body functions informs care planning............................................................... 9
4.0 Variations in body structure and function in relation to care .......................................................... 9
4.1. Age affecting body structure and function ...................................................................................... 9
4.2 Impact of common disorders in body structure and functioning ...................................................10
4.3 Effects of common disorders and infections in relation to care ...................................................10
References ............................................................................................................................................11

1.0 Main structure and functioning of human body

1.1. Outline of main anatomical features

The main anatomical features of the human body include various body systems. These are as
follows (Pedersen and Ullum, 1994, p 14042).
The gastrointestinal system comprises of mouth, stomach, intestine and rectum that
processes our food.
The respiratory system comprises of nose, trachea, bronchus and lungs that are responsible
for our breathing or gaseous exchange.
The cardiovascular system that is responsible for the circulation of blood alon the heart,
arteries veins and capillaries.
The urinary system includes kidney, ureter, urethra and bladder that excretes the body
wastes in the form of urine
The immune system defends our body from infections along with the lymphatic system.
The musculoskeletal system helps in movement of body with help of bones, muscles, tendons
and ligaments.
The reproductive system comprises sexual organs and induces reproduction.
The endocrine system is responsible for the functioning of our hormones secreted from
different glands
The nervous system comprises of brain, spinal cord and nerves that collects and processes
informations from all over the body.
The integumentary system features our skin, hair and nails.

1.2. Interactions of body systems for body functions and growth

The gastrointestinal system mainly does processing of food and thereby maintains our
nutrition and growth. The system acts into food particles and coverts them into smaller,
molecular nontoxic particles that are absorbed by the body. This is done with the help of
different enzymes that are secreted from salivary glands, liver, pancreas and other intestinal
glands and distributed by circulation to all cells and tissues and also helps in excretion of
undigested food particles from our body by means of rectum. The main functions that are
present in the GI system are ingestion, motility, digestion, assimilation, absorption and
excretion (Pedersen and Ullum, 1994, p 14042). Active participation from all the organs are
very essential for the nutrition of all body cells, growth in children and maintenance in adults.
The respiratory system functions mainly in our breathing system. It mainly inhales oxygen
from air and exhales carbon dioxide and water back into atmosphere. We cannot survive
without breathing; it involves an active process in breathing in and out that depends from the
atmospheric pressure gradient caused by the elastic recoil of the alveolar sacs present in the
lungs with active contraction of the diaphragm muscles in our body.
The cardiovascular system comprises circulation of blood by the heart, through arteries, veins
and capillaries. This takes active part in transporting oxygen, nutrients, immune cells, fuel,
immune cells, waste products and hormones from one part of the body to the other. The
blood carries mainly cells, from spleen, bone marrow, some cells, electrolytes and nutrients
that move inside and outside of tissues and also immune cells to the required areas of body.
The urinary system takes active part in removing waste products in the form of urine that
carries, all toxic materials, excess of ions, electrolytes, minerals and water from our body. It
helps to main the ionic balance of our body by removing different unwanted chemicals and
salts that are harmful for our system. It has functions like reabsorption of glucose, proteins in
the form of amino acids, sodium, potassium and other electrolytes, regulation of blood
pressure, creation of erythropoietin that forms red blood cells maintains water balance and
activates Vitamin D. Nobody will survive without proper functioning of the kidney that may
cause uraemia or toxic condition of our body.
The immune system mainly includes the lymphatic system that features different lymphatic
nodes and glands, the lymph or the fluid, different lymph channels, WBCs, tonsils, spleen and
the thymus gland. The system produces a number of antibodies that removes harmful

antigens during infections. They produces some specialised cell like plasma cells or B cells,
interleukins, interferons, cytokinase, cytotoxic killer cells , T4, T8 etc. IT controls our basic
functioning of our immune system in both diseased and healthy conditions. Mal functioning
of this system causes various problems like hypersensitivity, deficiency in the immune system,
various auto immune disease and AIDS.
The musculo skeletal system features all the skeletal structures of our body that includes
bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, cartilages, bone marrow where new blood cells are
produced and also the joints that are responsible for the basic movement of our body, the
joints and helps in extension and flexion of our muscles. The bones in our body mainly stores
calcium and phosphates that helps in production and maintenance of the bones. That is why
children are given more amount of calcium for their growth and some amount for
maintenance in matured age, thereby preventing osteomalacia in old age (Barash et al. 2002,
p 283).
The reproductive system includes mainly the sexual functions of our body with help of
different glands and hormones in our body that controls them. This make sure in creation of
new life and thereby survival of the humans. It is a combination of various mechanisms that
helps in care for the first nine months of an infants life in an agreeable environment i.e. the
mothers womb.
The endocrine system deals with the functioning of hormones in our body that are secreted
from main endocrine glands and other smaller glands that controls various systems in our
body. This is done by signalling from one part to other part of the body and thereby helping
in many body functions like growth, developement, growth of secondary sexual
characteristics in adolescence, maturation of sex organs and their functioning in normal
physiology and in reproduction.
The nervous system is related to functioning of our brain, spinal cord and our peripheral
nerves. The brain is the controlling system of our cognitive functions like thought, intellect,
memory, emotion, perception and understanding our psychological aspects. It is the main
controlling system along with the endocrine system in our body by means of communication
between both sensory and motor nerves and reactions to stimuli. It also includes our special

senses like vision, hearing, smell and tastes by controlling the organs related to them. The
functioning of all the body systems depends on it.
The integumentary system mainly deals with the protection of the body and the underlying
tissues with the largest organ skin. It also helps to prevent loss of fluids, while a major function
of the subcutaneous tissue is to connect the skin with the underlying tissues. The hair hel-p
in insulation of the scalp and the different gland present in our body is responsible for the
production of sweat and sebum. This helps in maintaining our body temperature, inhibit
bacteria that maintains our body waterproof and prevents drying of hairs and nails. The
eyelashes keep away dusts and perspiration from eyes; hairs in our nostrils keep off dusts
from nose. The nails protect the tips of our fingers from any injury and the necessary hardness
to pickup small objects (Pedersen and Ullum, 1994, p 14042).

2.0. Relationship between body functioning and relevant body systems

2.1 Normal body responses in everyday activities

Humans are maintaining a state of equilibrium that is called homeostasis where the human
being has no feeling of uneasiness, sickness, any unpleasant signs and symptoms or malaise
in god and sound mental conditions. It amounts to our normal body responses in relation to
our normal physiological functioning of the body (Kohrt et al. 2004, p 234). In this state of
equilibrium the human body manages a variety of complex functions and interactions within
the body systems to maintain balance or come back of functioning of different systems within
normal range. These complex interactions denote probable changes in relation of our physical
and psychological functioning that that includes, water, oxygen, nutrients, body temperature
and atmospheric pressure. It is very essential for humans to survive in an amiable condition
i.e. homeostasis (Dixon and Grand, 2006, p 162-166). In this condition all our systems and
organs function normally like the liver, kidney, the heart and mainly the hypothalamus along
with our autonomic nervous system in addition to the endocrine system are functioning
normally without any deviation from normal ranges.

All chemical reactions in our body must be in an optimal range. Here the liver is responsible
for maintaining carbohydrate and fat metabolism and for metabolising toxic substances. In
the urinary system the kidney is maintaining water balance, reabsorption of necessary
materials, the iron and salt levels in blood, regulates the pH of blood and excretes toxic wastes
or urea from the body. In case of cardiovascular system there will be a good heart rate with
normal cardiac output, no problem in our respiration, no shortness of breath or oppression
of chest that implies good gaseous exchange. There should not be any dehydration or excess
perspiration that denotes normal maintenance of temperature. We can do all our
physiological activities without any hazards, maintaining our normal basal metabolic rate
(Kohrt et al. 2004, p 234).

2.2 Responses of body in cellular and tissue structure and physiology

Cells are the basic structural and functional unit of life that are mainly responsible for all the
responses and physiological functions in the body. Cells together form tissues that are the
main components of the organs. There are four types of tissues that form the structures and
are responsible for functions. The cells have many functions like exchange, transport,
protective, secreting, osmosis, connecting etc (Kiens et al. 1993, p 459-60). The thin flattened
epithelial cells allow easy exchange of gases, found mostly in the capillaries of the lungs. The
cells having transport epithelia are found mostly in the intestines and kidney. They are
responsible for regulation and exchange of nutrients as ions, good absorption and higher
metabolism with more binding. Cells having protective epithelia prevent exchange of internal
and external environment found in linings of upper respiratory tract, mouth, oesophagus,
skin, urethra and vagina. The secretory cells are found in exocrine and endocrine glands. All
the connective tissues form the basic structure of the body and connect different parts of the
body that coordinates in various functions of the body (Kiens et al.1993, p 459-60).

2.3. Coordination of body in internal activities

All the tissues fluid must remain in a constant state, pertaining to the normal chemical
reactions within the body system. The main tissues that are responsible for internal coordinations are nervous system and endocrine system in a coordinated manner (Jacobs et al.,

1994, p 221). The nervous system mainly controls body functions by means of autonomic,
central and peripheral nervous system. No single system can coordinate all body functions.
Recent studies show that endocrine system is also equally responsible to carry coordination
in internal activities. To think about one system is to consider the autonomic nervous system
along with the endocrine system is mainly responsible for all our internal activities except our
cognitive functions that are controlled by the brain.

3.0. Collection of routine data in health and social care that helps in planning care

3.1 Recording and use of routine measures in health and social care
Record of routine measures is considered potential in planning health and social care of an
individual. This data gives integrated patient care in terms of professional, geographic and
other related boundaries. This will improve patient safety in relation to take measures to fill
in the gaps and mistakes in treatment and care (Rogers and Evans, 1993, p 6570). In this type
of recording the patient will be able to access his records, to ascertain about previous illness,
about medicines, recent diagnosis and schedule appointments. Considering all disciplines of
health and social care a new method has formed for clinical standard data collection through
Professional Standards Development Body (Lloyd, 2010, p 78-84).

3.2 Routine measures provide information of body functions

The routine measures that are collected record good information about his bodily functions
both in diseased and healthy state. All the measurements of vital signs give clinical data of
temperature, pulse respiration and blood pressure that can be done in a clinic. Testing of his
body fluids like blood, saliva, urine etc needs laboratory assistance from a pathologist, other
imaging data like USG, x rays and CT scan etc needs imaging labs. A normal ECG or
echocardiogram gives proof of good and healthy heart, the BMI or basal metabolic index
denotes his condition of nutrition and increase values will suggest for obesity (Gordon et al.
1995, p 851853). A level of blood glucose indicates whether the individual is diabetic or not
and all information regarding body functions can be ascertained. These records help the
health care professionals to know the condition of the individual and if there is change in

healthcare staff these data will help the new staff to continue with the treatment and will be
able to know everything necessary for the individual and can plan accordingly (Gordon et al.
1995, p 851853).

3.3. Information about body functions informs care planning

A good planning is necessary for an individual if in case the person is diseased. The
information that are collected of his bodily functions are very helpful in terms of planning
care for an individual. All the information suggests about the bodily functions of the patient
in relation to the disease and the treatment that has been taken. If a physician has proper
and knowledgeable information about his patient from the routine information, he can plan
for the care and recovery of the patient (Sammut et al. 2001, p 1821-24). What interventions
are necessary, medicines to be taken, or do the patient need any special consultations or any
form of other treatments like surgery, physiotherapy or any other mode? This will help to
understand the impact of the disease and the care planning that will be beneficial.

4.0 Variations in body structure and function in relation to care

4.1. Age affecting body structure and function

As we grow with age all our body structure and functions degenerate losing their functional
and structural capacity. These changes are found in all body tissues. Cells being the basic
structure of life, degeneration starts from them (Proske and Morgan, 2001, p 333). They
become larger and loose the capacity to multiply. In some tissues there starts deposition of
fats in the form of lipids. Many cells lose their functional ability and are unable to remove
wastes from the tissues. Many types of changes may occur, like atherosclerosis leading to
myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure. In case of bones they lose they deposits of
calcium and phosphates leading to osteoporosis and osteomalacia. The kidney may lose its
function leading to improper balance of electrolytes and failure in removal of wastes. The
case of lungs they may lose the elasticity in alveolar sacs which may lead to various types of
lung disorders. There also starts degeneration in the nervous system both in the central and
peripheral nervous systems. In case of the digestive system there may be decrease in the

digestive power due to less functioning of the liver and other digestive organs leading to less
BMR of the body (Proske and Morgan, 2001, p 333).

4.2 Impact of common disorders in body structure and functioning

As we have discussed in our previous heading that there are various common disorders that
may lead to different types of changes and disorders in or structure and function. The
immune system is the main protector in our body, so when common disorders like infections
from bacteria, virus, protozoa, or fungus affects us, a lot of changes are found in their system
leading to formation of various bodies that identifies and removes these infections from the
body. If there is damage in this system it may lead to formation of auto immune diseases,
cancer or AIDS. When a body is fighting with infection the organs related to this system
becomes enlarged and painful, spleen helps to dispose all and damages blood cell there by
bringing in more active cells to fight the infection (Kadi , 2000, p 51).
The two types of lymphocytes are B-cells and T-cells that attack the viruses and bacteria and
toxins to make it free from the disorders. Besides these the different systems react in various
manners according to the disorders that affects them. In case of circulatory system there may
varicose veins, myocardial infarctions, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, thrombus,
phlebitis, anaemia etc. All these may happen due to deposition of fatty plaques, hardening of
veins, improper pumping of heart occlusion in the coronary arteries, high BP or irregular
pulse, etc. In case of digestive system it may lead to various disorders like gastritis, hepatitis,
ulcer cirrhosis, gall stones, colitis, diabetes mellitus due to improper functioning of digestion,
absorption and assimilation of the system Like these all other systems will have different
impacts like osteomalacia or osteoporosis, arthritis , due to defect in movement of joints and
bones that accounts for deformity in gait and crippling or respiratory disorders due to impact
on their organs that leads to different disorders or any other diseases of the urinary system
that affects the kidney. Various disorders of brain may affect due to damage in the central
nervous system or any cerebral disorders (Kadi, 2000, p 51).

4.3 Effects of common disorders and infections in relation to care

The care of any individual in common disorders and infections must be in relation to the
system or the organs that are affected. If a person is suffering from any heart disease then

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care must be given to restore his BP and proper functioning of his heart, including surgical
interventions where necessary. If a person is suffering from digestive disorders it is necessary
to identify the cause and treat accordingly so that the digestive power is restored and the
patient achieve more nutrition and metabolic power by correcting the food habit. When
harmful antigens affect our body, care must be directed to improve the immune system so
that these harmful antigens are removed (Lloyd, 2010, p 78-84).
If a person is suffering from common cold it is necessary to restore the immune power by
helping the antibodies by means of drugs and medicines. In case of respiratory disorders it is
necessary to identify the causative factors in case of allergy, rhinitis, URI, pneumonia, COPD
that affects the structures and functions of the lungs preventing sufficient gaseous exchange
of oxygen and carbon dioxide and narrowing of the air passage and inflammation. In case of
urinary system there may be disorders of kidney or renal calculus, hydro-nephrosis, nephritis
that causes in improper fluid balance by improper absorption and secretion that requires
proper diet with control of fluid intake and removing the toxins and wastes of the body. The
other systems are also taken care of according the structure and functioning of the body that
are affected by common disorders (Villarreal et al. 2002, p.119120).

References

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