Growth and repair Flashcards
What can increase growth?
- A balanced diet containing calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and proteins
- regular exercise.
What usually causes extremes of height?
Hormone imbalance or by genes.
Growth rate for a foetus
Different parts of a foetus and a baby grow at different rates e.g. the head grows and develops earlier than the rest of the body.
Why is the growth of a baby monitored?
A baby’s length, mass and head size are regulary monitored to give an early warning of any growth difference from normal, possibly due to malenourishment or hormone imbalance. Average growth charts are used for comparison.
The human growth hormone is produced
By the pituitary gland and it stimulates general growth, especially in long bones.
Human life expectancy has increased in recent years due to:
- Fewer deaths from industrial diseases
- Better housing, so there are fewer cases of diseases such as tuberculosis
- A healthier diet and lifestyle
- Advances in modern medicines, such as antibiotics and transplants.
More people living longer has many personal and national consequences
Such as a longer retirement to enjoy but a bigger burden on pension funds and health services.
Organ donations and Supply
- The supply of donated organs is limited by a shortage of donors and also by restrictions of use due to the necessity of tissue matches as well as those of size and age.
- These problems can be avoided by using using mechanical replacements. However, these have other problems such as the depenence on a power supply, the properties of materials used, their large size and body reactions to ‘foreign’ materials.
What can a living person donate?
- Blood
- Bone marrow - as the body replaces them
- And a kidney - as we can live with only one
- Transplants require a suitable tissue match
Organ donation from a dead doner must meet certain criteria
Such as approval from the donor or relatives, and the requirement that the donor is ‘brain dead’
Organ donation, especially from dead donors raises, ethical issues to do with
- Human rights,
- the acceptance of surgery on a dead body
- the fact that a person’s death has been necessary to supply a donor organ.
Risks of transplants
Transplants are at risk of being rejected by the recipient’s body and so need life-long immuno-suppressive drug treatment, which can lead to the body not being able to protect itself from microorganisms
Donor Registers
People over 18 years of age can ask to be put on the donor register so their organs can be used after death. There are long waiting list for organs and deaths due to shortages. Some countries have an ‘opt out’ system, which assumes that organs can be donated without asking permission. Some people object to this system, saying it is against human rights.
