The study of the structure of the healthy human body is called anatomy. Derived from the Greek ”anatémnein”, anatomy roughly means ”cutting apart” or ”dissecting”. Anatomy today is no longer a question of just cutting up or dissecting the body. Rather, it deals with the way the functions of the individual parts interrelate in the functioning whole.

We can divide the human body into three large groups of organs, systemized in accordance with their functions for the overall organism.

The first group is the locomotor system. This includes all organs that lend the body its characteristic shape and give it the capability to move.

The organ of this group that is probably the most important is the body’s bone system, the skeleton. It protects the soft parts of the body, forms the structure for the musculature and supports the body as the inner frame (endoskeleton). The joints form the movable connections between bones.

We may find joints in the elbow as the connection between the upper and lower arm or in the knee. The human musculature allows us to move.

We differentiate between voluntary skeletal musculature and involuntary musculature. We may find the latter in the stomach walls and they are unconsciously controlled by the autonomous nervous system. However, a large portion of the skeletal muscles can be actively controlled by the central nervous system.

Another group in the system of organs are the internal organs. They are immediately involved in the life processes. For instance, the digestive system, the respiratory and circulatory system, the reproductive organs and the large glands are in this category.

The digestive organs transform foods taken in by the body into simple soluble substances that can be carried off into the body’s tissue.

The main respiratory organ is the lung, where gases are exchanged. The oxygen is the air inhaled diffuses through the lung’s walls, thus coming into the blood. At the same time, the blood disposes of the consumed air transported into the lung, which is then exhaled again.

The heart maintains human circulation. In general, we can say that the heart is a relatively large hollow muscle, which pumps blood through the body through constant contraction and expansion. The blood flows in arteries from the heart into the parts of the body and back to the heart through veins.

Reproductive organs differentiate the two sexes. Gametes are produced in the man’s testicles, which are delivered into the woman’s vagina through the penis. The egg cells are produced in the woman’s ovaries that are fertilized by the male sperm.

Among the large human glands is the liver, the largest internal organ. It weighs up to 1.5 kilograms, is dark red in color, and is in the upper right-hand quarter of the abdominal cavity. The main function of the glands is to produce and secrete chemical substances. Other glands are the pancreas and the kidneys.

All organs responsible for separating the body from the environment or that maintain contact with the environment are put into a third group. Here we should first of all specify the skin, which covers and protects the entire body. The skin passes over without interruption into the mucous membranes at some body openings, for instance those of the digestive tract. The skin protects the body from external influences, contains sensory cells for touch, pain and temperature and regulates the body temperature through sweat glands. The sensory organs take in information from the environment and pass them onto the nervous system. The classic five senses are hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching.

The nervous system is a composite of nerve cells, so-called neurons. It takes in stimuli and passes them on, controls the activation of muscles and is responsible for the body’s coordination of the individual organ functions.

Although every person on earth is an individual and unique personality, and although no one human being is the same as another (with the exception of identical twins), all people have anatomical and functional similarities regardless of their sex or race.