Introduction

Don’t you want to learn about your body and brain? Don’t you want to understand better what’s going on inside? Join me in this new Essential Guide to Your Body and Brain Series from English Plus Podcast and you will learn a lot of things you never knew about your body and brain.

Audio Episode

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Danny: Consisting of more than half water, the body would dissolve into a pool of common chemicals where it not for the scaffolding that keeps it contained upright and moving it’s genetic code and essential metabolism are held within its cells. The building blocks that stack together to form tissues, organs, and body.

[00:00:28] Cells combine into the bones that protect and shape the body into the muscles that move those bones and into the skin, hair and nails. That form a surprisingly tough defensive barrier. Together your bones, muscles, and skin make up more than half your body weight. They take a beating in terms of cuts, breaks, and tears during a lifetime.

[00:00:53] Luckily they’re also adept at healing themselves and rebuilding to keep the body moving forward. In fact constant use in the form of exercise makes both bones and muscles larger and stronger as your body adapts itself, day to day to the stresses of your life. Are you interested to learn more? Well, you should be because this is the first episode in our new series, an essential guide to your body and brain.

[00:01:21] We’re gonna have a new episode every week and every week, we’re going to talk about an essential thing you need to know about your body or your brain. For today. We’re gonna talk about the framework. We’re gonna talk about bones, muscles, the skin, the cells. We’re gonna talk about all these things that I just included into the introduction.

[00:01:41] And for those of you who are wondering yes, English plus is back to daily episodes every day we’re gonna have. A new series. And of course on Monday, we’re gonna have our usual worth power episode, but every other day, we’re gonna have different series. And for those of you who listen to the first two episodes of shocking events that made history or great mysteries, don’t worry.

[00:02:02] This is not going to replace those series. This is just going to be an new series in our new weekly schedule on English plus podcast. This is your host, Danny, and this is a new episode. And use series episode from English plus podcast.

[00:02:23] Now, before we start talking about the cell, which is the first thing we need to talk about in our framework, I would just like to remind you that you can find the transcript for this episode on my website, the link is in the description or in the show notes, you can follow the link, go to the website and check out the transcript of this.

[00:02:43] And of course, while you are there, while you are on English plus podcast.com, you will find a lot of other opportunities, including the short reads, the daily short reads. And of course you can opt in to mind new English plus bites, new bites, every day, small bites of English that you can learn delivered to your inbox.

[00:03:04] All you have to do is to opt in, give me your email, your name, and your good to go. You will start receiving those English plus bites. Every. And there are a lot of other things you can find on the website. I will leave to you. And of course, for those of you who want to make the most of it and to unlock everything on the website, you can become a patron and support this show on Patreon and get all the benefits that come with becoming a patron.

[00:03:28] And there are many, you should check them out. The link is also in the description and now without further ado, let’s start our very. Episodes from our new series, an essential guide to your body and brain. And today we’re gonna start talking about the body actually, and it is about the framework. We’re gonna talk about cells.

[00:03:47] We’re gonna talk about bones, the skin and muscles. So don’t go away. That’s what we’re going to do. Next. We’re gonna start talking about the sale.

[00:04:01] The human body is a bustling complex multicellular organism to understand its functions from a sneeze to the birth of a baby. One must understand it. Cells cells are the building blocks of the human body. The adult body contains 50 to 100 trillion cells in about 200 specialized forms. They range in size from the sperm, a few micrometers wide to the egg, about 100 micrometers in diameter, the size of the period at the end of the sentence.

[00:04:35] When nerve cells take the prize for size. However, if you include the axon, which is the part of the nerve cells that conducts impulses, the neurons that run from the spine to the toes are more than three feet long. So what about cell structures? Human cells share basic ingredients and structures. All consist mainly of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

[00:05:01] Each has an outer boundary. The plasma membrane inside the cell is divided into two regions, the cytoplasm and the nucleus, the cytoplasm contains fluid and a variety of organelles, which means little organs that perform cell Metabo. The cytoplasm surrounds the nucleus, which is the largest organelle that is the control center and the location of chromosomes, which are the genetic material and the code that shapes the body.

[00:05:33] So that is about the cells, but do we have the same cells from the moment we are born to the moment we die? Well, not exactly. That’s what I’m going to tell you in divide and conquer. So don’t go away. That’s what we’re going to talk about next.

[00:05:52] Well, you are not as old as you might. Cells in most human tissues regularly die and get replaced. New cells arise through the process of mitosis in which one, cell splits into two genetically identical daughter cells in an amazing dance of thread. Like. Chromosomes, according to some scientists, the average age of human cells is somewhere under 10 years.

[00:06:20] Those in tough neighborhoods, like the cells that lined hardworking human gut have a lifespan measured in days, the entire liver turns over every year or so. And you imagine that, so you are not as old as you might think. However, and obviously you knew there was a however coming. You don’t feel perpetually young for several reasons.

[00:06:44] Some cells, for instance, remain unchanged from birth. These include most of the cells of the cortex, which is the thinking portion of the brain and most of the muscle cells that make up the heart and the genes in the center of each cell pick up damage over time. Mutations handed down to daughter cells when genes are copied during cell.

[00:07:07] So what prompts a cell to divide biologists? Don’t know for sure. Cell size might be one trigger. When a cell reaches a certain ratio of surface area to volume, when it gets fat, chemical signals might prompt division normal cells also stop dividing. When they begin to touch each other, scientists are eager to decipher the signals that turn cell division on and.

[00:07:32] Since cancer cells notoriously ignore these normal controls. So since we talked about cancer and that is definitely closely related to this part of divide and conquer with cells, so what can go wrong? That’s what we’re going to talk about. Next. Don’t go away. We’re gonna talk about cancers.

[00:07:54] Now cancer is a class of diseases marked by the uncontrolled growth of cells. Cancers have increasingly dominated the mortality statistics and might be the defining plague of our generation cells become cancerous as a result of mutations, typically damage to the genes that control cell division and.

[00:08:17] Because genetic damage accumulates over time, cancer becomes increasingly common with age hereditary factors can play a part while exposure to carcinogens like radiation or cigarette smoke can also cause mutations. Cancerous or malignant cells grow into abnormal tissues called tumors, masses that may spread to multiple parts of the body.

[00:08:43] Almost any kind of cell can become cancerous. Although cancers vary wildly in their severity. Uh, for example, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer are among the most deadly doctors attack cancer with a variety of weapons from surgery to chemotherapy, to radiation. Researchers are putting increased efforts into targeting the molecule processes for each kind of cancer in the hope of one day, pulling up the disease by its genetic roots.

[00:09:15] And this is in brief about cancer, but later this week, we’re going to have an in depth episode about cancer. It is our very short introduction to cancer. And we’re gonna talk about a lot more if you’re interested to learn more. So tune in by the end of this week to learn more about cancer. But now let’s get back to our episode and our series, an essential guide to your body.

[00:09:39] And. So that was everything I wanted to share with you about cells. I hope you learned something about cells that you didn’t know about before, but that’s not everything we’re still going to talk about. The framework and cells is just one part of it. We’re gonna talk about bones next.

[00:09:59] The living skeleton is a powerful structure, composed of bones, joints, cartilage, and ligaments. It supports the body, gives it shape and anchors the muscles, the skeletons 206 bones, not only protect internal organs, but also manufacture blood cells and store mineral salts, such as calcium and phosphorus, which the body needs for healthy bone and muscle.

[00:10:27] The skeleton’s protective role can be seen in the 12 pairs of ribs that curve around the chest cavity and shelter, the heart lungs, and organs of the upper abdomen, the spine, which protects the delicate spinal cord. The pelvis, which holds the uterus and bladder and the skull, which safeguards the brain, the spine provides the body with some flexibility, but it also allows us to stand tall and to hold our hefty heads high, the brain and skull together weigh approximately 15 pounds or 6.8 kilogram.

[00:11:05] Although bones are relatively light. The average adult skeleton weighs about 20 pounds or nine kilograms. They can withstand forces with the strength of cast iron. When a person walks, for instance, each foot strikes the ground with a force of about three times that of his or her weight, someone who weighs say 150 pounds or 68 kilo.

[00:11:30] His or her lower limbs are subjected to a walloping 450 pounds of force or 204 kilograms of force. Interesting. Now, interesting to learn about these things that we take for granted our bodies. And later on in the series, you will learn amazing things. About what the body and especially what the brain can do and how they do it.

[00:11:54] But now let’s continue talking about bones and we’ll talk about multitasking when it comes to bones and that’s coming next, don’t go away.

[00:12:07] As living organs, bones hum. With activity inside them. Bone marrow creates blood cells outside competing cells, continually build and break down bone in a process known as remodeling calcium from old bone cells is released into the blood where it can be used again to make new. Bones consist of two kinds of tissue, compact bone, which forms the heart outer layer and spongy bone, a Lacey tissue in the interior.

[00:12:41] The gel-like marrow is fined in the gaps of some spongy bone, such as in the long bones of the arms and legs. Red marrow is the body’s blot cell factory. It turns out more than 100 billion new blood cells. Every. Bones are typically classified by shape flat bones, shield the brain and the organs in the chest cavity and PEL.

[00:13:07] Long bones are powerful weight, bearing bones, chiefly those of the arms and legs, the clavicles and those of the hands and feet short bones are small and cube. Like they are found in the wrists and ankles, irregular bones, such as the vertebrae come in a variety of shapes and usually have projections to which muscles, tendons, and ligaments can attach.

[00:13:32] Sesamoids are short bones that develop in tendons, that experience considerable friction and stress such as in the palms and in the souls. Kneecaps, for example, are sesamoid bones. So how do we keep the bones healthy? How do we build strong bones? That’s what we’re going to talk about next. So don’t go away.

[00:13:58] Starting at about age 30, the body loses bone more quickly than it makes bone to keep your skeletons strong into old age. You can adopt a few basic habits, include lots of calcium in your diet, dairy products, almonds and leafy greens, such as kale and broccoli are good sources of this. What else can you do?

[00:14:23] You can take in vitamin D fortified milk, egg yolks, and oily fish are good sources, sunlight on bare skin prompts the body to make its own vitamin D though this phenomenon decreases with age and also you will need to weigh the benefits of bone building against the cost of possible skin cancer. So you have to be careful about.

[00:14:45] It’s good to expose your skin to the sun, but not for prolonged periods because that may cause other more serious problems. So we talked about calcium. We talked about vitamin D. What else can we do to build strong bones? Well, engage in regular weight, bearing exercise, such as walking, climbing stairs or playing.

[00:15:06] This kind of activity builds bones and finally avoid smoking cigarettes and drinking to excess along with all their other harmful effects, these bad habits decrease bone density. So we talked about bones. We talked about how to keep bones healthy, but how are these bones connected to each other? We’ll talk about these connections next.

[00:15:29] So don’t go away.

[00:15:35] Without joints, those crossroads of the human framework, the body would be an immobile prison. There are more than 400 joints, also known as articulations in the body. Muscles span joints by crossing from one bone. To another cords call tendons, join muscles to bones, which move when the muscles contract ligaments, which are bands of strong tissue support the bones around a joint and resilient cartilage cushions, the bones ends and helps joints function smoothly.

[00:16:10] So let’s talk about the knee as an example, actually, as a very good example. The knee is an example of both the marvelous engineering of joints and their vulnerability, the most complex joint in the body. It takes a pounding as the hinge between two substantial leg bones, the femur and the tibia, multiple pads of cartilage cushion.

[00:16:32] It. And ligaments run along the sides and center to stabilize it. Knee injury can happen quickly as when a sudden change of direction tears, the anterior cruciate ligament or the ACL for short, or it may occur over a lifetime as when osteoarthritis erodes the protective cartilage, irreversible damage may lead to one of the most common operations performed in the United States, which is called knee APLA.

[00:17:01] Or knee replacement. So we talked about connections, what can go wrong? Well, there’s arthritis and that’s what we’re going to talk about next. So don’t go away.

[00:17:15] Arthritis is a general term for more than a hundred different types of inflammatory or degenerative diseases that damage the joint. To varying degrees. These diseases share similar symptoms, which are pain, joint stiffness and swelling. Arthritis can appear as the side effect of a number of illnesses, or it can take the form of an autoimmune disorder.

[00:17:39] That means when the immune system attacks its own tissue as with rheumatoid arthritis, but osteoarthritis attributed to normal wear and tear is its most common. In osteoarthritis particular cartilage, which occurs in joints where bone meets another bone breaks down and new tissue does not replace it.

[00:18:02] Bones begin to grind directly against one another. Eventually wearing down the cartilage and forming bony spurs where the exposed tissue has thickened today. Arthritis is among the world’s most common diseases. And it may also be one of the oldest remains of skeletons dating to the ice age bear traces of joint damage that resembles osteoarthritis.

[00:18:28] So we talked about the bones, the connections, and we talked about what can go wrong. Now let’s move to the part that you love the most, the muscles. That’s what we’re gonna talk about next. So don’t go away.

[00:18:44] So the muscles everybody likes to have, I’m not gonna say big muscles because not everybody loves that, but everybody likes to keep a good shape and you can achieve that with building some muscle. So what is the muscle? It makes up more than half the body’s mass muscles are the body’s movers, shakers, and stabilizers muscles, power.

[00:19:07] The body’s internal operating systems, as well as its moving parts. Without muscles, the body could not breathe air or digest food without muscles. Blood could not circulate from the heart in the core of the body, out through the limbs and back again, every body movement, whether voluntary or not occurs through the work of muscles.

[00:19:31] So what types of muscles do we have? The human body contains three kinds of muscles, skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscle. Each muscle type performs a different job. Skeletal muscles also known as striated muscles because of their striped appearance, make up the bulk of the body and come in various sizes and shapes.

[00:19:55] They move voluntarily. A person can control their operation, smooth muscles occur in organs and blood vessels. They contract and relax involuntarily and they motivate the essential life. Cardiac muscle. The muscle in the heart is also involuntary from before birth until the moment of death, cardiac muscle cells contract and relax with the rhythm embedded in their cells, creating the pulsing force that circulates blood through the heart.

[00:20:27] So what about exercise? Is it good for you, which is fitter the tortoise or the hair? You all know the story of the tortoise and the. But which is fitter. Do you think there’s no dispute that exercise is good for you? It builds strength, trims fat, and improves the functioning of heart and lungs. In addition to a host of other benefit.

[00:20:47] But which is better long bouts of lower level exertion, such as walking or short stints of intense exercise, such as running or playing tennis. The answer appears to be both walking seems to be as effective as running when it comes to improving aerobic function. And keeping blood sugar steady while running appears to burn off more fat, short bursts of intense exercise lasting under 10 minutes seem to work as well as longer steadier sessions do, but most researchers still agree that you should get at least 150 minutes of some kind of exercise each week, whether fast or slow, intense or easy it’s up to you.

[00:21:31] So it is not about being the tortoise or the hair. It’s just about being active. That’s the key. And now we’ll talk more about smooth muscles and cardiac muscles, but that’s coming next. So don’t go away.

[00:21:49] Most of your body’s inside action is propelled by the unseen and involuntary efforts of smooth muscles. Smooth muscle is at work, for example, in the walls of blood vessels, in the walls of hollow organs, such as the stomach, the intestines, and the bladder in the airways, leading into the lungs and inside the Iris of the.

[00:22:12] Smooth muscle gets its name from the sleek surfaces of its muscle fibers. Compared with the striped appearance of skeletal muscle fibers, the esophagus, the tube that sends food down into the stomach. After a person, swallows is composed of layers of smooth muscle. The mechanical force of these muscle groups is so strong that food still continues its March to word the stomach.

[00:22:39] Even if a person is standing on his head and when it comes to cardiac muscle, well, there are similarities like smooth muscle cardiac muscle. The muscle that makes up the heart operates involuntarily. Like skeletal muscle. However, it is tri with dark bands of color visible in the cells. Cardiac muscle cells are short and squat.

[00:23:03] They connect to one another with a special bonding design that makes the heart a dense, strong organ and allows tiny electrochemical impulses to pass rapidly from cell to. A group of special cardiac muscle cells serve as the heart’s internal peacemaker. These cells never rest with a constant rhythm of contraction and relaxation.

[00:23:27] They generate the electrochemical impulses that maintain the steady lub up of the heartbeat. And finally, let’s talk a little more about the skeletal muscles, skeletal muscle striated tissue forms, distinct masses, each one, a muscle as the name suggests skeletal muscles usually attach to bones. This type of muscle works voluntarily.

[00:23:49] And its actions, coordinate sequences of contracting and relaxing. Move the bones at their joints. Tendons attach muscles to bones. A muscle generally is attached at one end to a fixed bone. Then it crosses over a joint and attaches to the bone that it moves when the muscle contracts, the tendon transfers the force to the bone and causes it to move around the.

[00:24:16] For every muscle group that contracts an opposite muscle group relaxes, and remember muscles only pull, they never push. So that was about the muscles. And we still have one more thing to talk about, to complete our episode about the framework about our body’s framework. And that has to do with the. Which is one of the most important organs in our body.

[00:24:41] So that’s coming next. Don’t go away.

[00:24:48] The body’s largest organ is worn on the outside for all to see weighing about eight pounds or 3.6 kilograms and covering up to 22 square feet or two square meters. If ishly spread out, the skin joins the hair and nails to form theary system. And this fancy word comes from Latin mentum, which means. This system has an essential role in protecting healing and regulating the body.

[00:25:20] So let’s talk about the epidermis. Beauty may be only skin deep, but how deep is that? The thinnest skin from 0.004 to 0.006 inch or 0.0 10 to 0.0 15 centimeters. Is found on the eyelids while the thickest, which is about zero point 18 inches or zero point 46, centimeters is on the palms and heels that narrow expands contains two kinds of tissue.

[00:25:53] The moisture proof epidermis is the protective outermost layer among other things. It contains melanoma sites. These cells make the radiation observing pigment melanin, which gives skin its color and protects it from the sun’s ultraviolet. Ray. The epidermis is regularly refreshed shedding millions of old skin cells daily as fresh cells rise to the surface.

[00:26:19] So what about the dermis, which is just beneath the epi D. So just beneath the epidermis is what we call the dermis. It’s a tough sheath of connective tissue that makes up the bulk of the skin. The dermis provides support and gives the skin strength and suppleness. The dermis is often referred to as the true skin, because unlike the continually renewing epidermis, it stays the same throughout.

[00:26:46] The dermis contains blood and lymph vessels, nerve endings, hair follicles, sweat and Sacious glands and the proteins collagen and elastin sensory receptors in the dermis detect pressure, vibration and light touch. Bare nerve endings sense, painful stimuli, such as extreme. And cold. So the skin is obviously the body armor skin is an essential but little appreciated member of the immune system.

[00:27:17] As a physical barrier. It blocks invading pathogens because it is water resistant yet also an excreta of wastes and sweat. It also helps to keep body fluids, imbalanced, and to regulate tempera. The skin cushions, the organs and tissues against injury and by detecting touch pain, pressure and degrees of temperature.

[00:27:41] It tells the body about the world. To protect the human fortres skin employs multiple defenses. Most would be invaders, never get past the acid mantle of sweat and sebum that coats the skin and contains antibacterial and antifungal substances, including human defense in which is a protein that literally punches holes in bacteria.

[00:28:06] And now let’s talk about the healing part of the. Because skin forms such a vital barrier, its healing process is fast and thorough when scratched or scraped the epidermis speeds up cell replacement, new cells surround the wound and migrate in sheets across it. The healing process for penetrating wounds is more complex blood clots form to wall in the injured area.

[00:28:32] And inflammation brings infection, fighting white blood cells to the wound in the dermis cells called fibroblasts produce growth factors and collagen fibers to create new tissue within days or weeks, the skin rebuilds. So that was about the skin. Very interesting. Right. Maybe you know about these things, maybe you don’t.

[00:28:53] But I’m telling you essential things you need to know about your body. And today we’re talking about the framework. Remember we talked about cells. We talked about bones, muscles, and now we’re talking about the skin and now how can we keep the skin healthy? That’s what we’re gonna talk about next. So don’t go away.

[00:29:14] Well first let’s talk about sunlight, but sunlight gives life to the world, which is good for you. Of course, exposure to the sun helps to regulate circadian rhythms and improves your mood. Sunlight on skin helps the body make vitamin D, which strengthens your bone. But saying that you should know that sunlight is also bad for you within the spectrum, our high frequency ultraviolet rays, or what we call UV rays.

[00:29:43] That’s ultraviolet. Which penetrates skin cells and can cause gene mutations leading to skin cancer, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, melanoma kills thousands of people each year. Now, when it comes to sun versus shade, most doctors vote for shade. As they believe that the risk of skin cancer outweighs the benefits of sun exposure wearing long sleeves and applying a sunblock of 15 SPF or more are easy ways to protect the skin.

[00:30:15] Physicians estimate that people who regularly use sunblock at that level in their first 18 years reduced the risk of nonmelanoma cancers by almost 80%. So it is not about not. Exposing yourself to the sun or over exposing yourself to the sun. The best thing in the world is to find the right balance between being under the sun and being in the.

[00:30:39] So that was everything I wanted to share with you. In today’s episode, remember we talked about cells. We talked about bones. We talked about muscles, different types of muscles, different functions of bones. We talked about the connections between bones, the voluntary, the involuntary muscles. And finally, we talked about the skin, which is the body armor that we have the natural body armor that we.

[00:31:03] With that we come to the end of today’s episode, the first episode in our series, an essential guide to your body and brain. Next time we’re going to talk about our brains and we’re gonna talk about a very special thing that has to do with the learning brain. So stay tuned. Of course, we have a new episode every day, but if you are a fan of this series and you want to catch up on what’s coming next in this series, it’s a weekly series.

[00:31:28] We’re gonna have a new episode every week. And while you’re. Please check out the other series that we have, because they’re all different and very exciting. Don’t forget to check the show notes for the link that can take you to my website, English plus podcast.com, where you can find the transcript of this episode and also support this show.

[00:31:48] Support me as a content creator, take this link to Patreon and you can become a patron today. And of course you will enjoy the many benefits that come with becoming a. That being said, this is your host, Danny. I would like to thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcast.

[00:32:04] I will see you next time.

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<a href="https://englishpluspodcast.com/author/dannyballanowner/" target="_self">Danny Ballan</a>

Danny Ballan

Author

Danny is a podcaster, teacher, and writer. He worked in educational technology for over a decade. He creates daily podcasts, online courses, educational videos, educational games, and he also writes poetry, novels and music.

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