Human Anatomy and Physiology
Overview
Human Anatomy and Physiology tests structure–function links: the organisation of the body, homeostasis, and the major systems most relevant to bedside care - cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, nervous and skeletal. Expect normal values and functional-unit questions.
Core facts
- Levels of organisation: cell → tissue → organ → organ system → organism.
- An adult has 206 bones; an infant about 270; the smallest bone is the stapes in the middle ear.
- The right lung has three lobes, the left lung two (room for the heart); the functional unit of the lung is the alveolus.
- Heart flow: right atrium → tricuspid valve → right ventricle → pulmonary valve → pulmonary artery → lungs → pulmonary veins → left atrium → mitral valve → left ventricle → aortic valve → aorta.
- The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney; the liver produces bile, stores glycogen and detoxifies.
- Normal adult resting values: pulse 60–100/min, respiration 12–20/min, blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg, temperature 36.5–37.5 °C.
Worked example
Question: which vessel carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs? Reasoning: the pulmonary artery leaves the right ventricle and carries oxygen-poor blood; the pulmonary veins return oxygen-rich blood to the left atrium. The odd naming is why this is asked.
Traps that cost marks
- Assuming every artery carries oxygenated blood - the pulmonary artery is the classic exception.
- Mixing the functional units: nephron (kidney), alveolus (lung), neuron (nervous tissue).
- Giving the left lung three lobes.