Urethra - Bottom of urinary system, releases wastes (urine) from the body. Females: 3-4 inches. Men: 8 inches long.

Urinary Bladder - collects and stores urine before removal 

Ureter - tube that moves urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder

Kidneys - Dispose of wastes and excess ions. Perform all functions listed in the “Purpose” section

Nephron -structural unit of the kidneys

Renal vein - Empties blood into the inferior vena cava

Renal artery - Supplies blood to the kidneys

Hilus - Where the nerves and ureters enter/exit the kidneys

Thymus: lymphoid mass active during childhood

Spleen: filters and and cleans the blood and removes bacteria, viruses, and debris. 

Peyer’s patches: captures and destroys bacteria in the intestine

Appendix: captures and destroys bacteria

lymphatic vessels: picks up excess tissue fluid, called lymph, and flows back into the heart

lymph nodes: remove bacteria and tumor cells and produce lymphocytes

Cervix - cylinder shaped tissue between and connecting the vagina and uterus 

Vagina - passageway for baby delivery and the menstrual flow out of the body

Fallopian tube - or uterine tubes, tubes from the ovaries to the uterus that transport the egg, or ova, to the uterus each month. 

Ovary - produce hormones and release an egg once a month to the uterus for fertilization

Fimbraie - fringe of tissue that hits the ovaries at time of ovulation

Uterus - where eggs are fertilized and the baby grows

Mons pubis - The fatty area anterior to the labia 

Clitoris - provides sexual pleasure

Hymen - a fold of mucosa that covers the end of the vagina. This tissue is usually easily ruptured during sexual intercourse, a sports activity, or with the insertion of a tampon. 

Labium - folds of skin that protect the vagina

Testes - The primary reproductive organ filled

Epididymis - storage site for immature sperm in the testes, coiled tube that is 20 ft long

Ductus deferens - propels live sperm from their storage sites

Seminal vesicle - produce a large amount of the fluid semen 

Ejaculatory duct - after the ductus deferens and before the urethra

Prostate - Activates sperm and is anterior to the rectum

Bulbo-urethral gland - produce thick, clear mucus

Urethra - carries sperm and urine out of the body

Prepuce - foreskin, skin covering the end of the penis

Penis - delivers sperm to the female reproductive tract

erectile tissue - causes the penis to erect.

Pituitary gland - “master endocrine gland” that releases hormones (oxytocin, antidiuretic hormone, growth hormone, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone)

Thyroid gland - produces hormones (thyroid hormone, calcitonin)

Thymus - produces hormone (thymosin)

Parathyroid gland - secrete hormones (parathyroid hormone)

Adrenal gland - produces steroid hormones (corticosteroids: mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, sex hormones)

Pancreas - produces hormones (insulin) to regulate the blood’s glucose

Gonads - testes/ovaries that produce sex cells and steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone)

Pineal gland - produces hormone (melatonin) 

Adult Polycystic kidney disorder - Polycystic kidney disorder is a degenerative disease of the kidneys found in adults. Cysts of urine form on the kidneys causing the organs to swell. A cure may be kidney transplants, and if not treated in time can lead to renal failure. 

HIV/AIDS: human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, causes AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV/AIDS causes the body to be unable to fight of diseases. It is a chronic disorder spread by sexual contact or blood contact. At first, the symptoms include high fever, sore throat, and fatigue. Once it progresses, symptoms include weight loss, fevers, and infections. There is no cure for the disease, however there are medications that can slow down the disease. 

Cervical Cancer - This cancer is specific to the female body and begins in the lining of the organ. Statistically, roughly 12,000 new people get cervical cancer a year, just in the US. The cause of this cancer is typically from HPV - a sexually transmitted disease. Not all women with HPV will get cervical cancer but it does increase the likelihood. Some symptoms of cervical cancer include bleeding in abnormal times, such as postmenopausal, during sex, etc. Also abnormal pelvic pain may be a symptom, as well as pain while urinating. 

Gigantism - When hypersecretion of hormones occurring in childhood results in an abnormal height of usually 8 or 9 feet. This may be caused by tumors on the affected pituitary gland.

Muscular - controls urine elimination from the bladder, or micturition or voiding. The urethra and bladder are muscles that release wastes (urine) from the body. When the muscles relax, the urine is released. 

Nervous: also shares a close relationship with the digestive system, with the digestive system giving crucial nutrients for the development of neurotransmitters. Also, the autonomic nervous system is responsible for a good fraction of digestive functions, including how well the digestive tract is moving and metabolising. Of course the functional uses of the brain work to allow us to eat and swallow food, as well as using those skeletal muscles. The digestive system also can send important messages to the brain - those including things we decide taste well, things that don’t ,when you’re full, or when you are hungry and need to find or make yourself some food. 

Integumentary - works pretty efficiently as a shield for our bodies. Our skin is an excellent barrier from dangerous pathogens and diseases, but that doesn't mean it can’t take some help from the lymphatic system. Lymphocytes help better the skin's barrier by working especially hard to defeat and kill any pathogens it encounters. The skin also secretes a pH high in acidity that limits bacteria development. 

Skeletal System - The pelvis provides structure and protection around sexual organs. In females, this is the birth canal and sometimes may be too small for vaginal delivery. Male steroid hormones, androgens, masculinize the skeleton bones while female’s estrogen feminizes the skeleton. 

Muscular - Growth hormone in the pituitary gland guide muscular growth and development. Hormones called thyroxine and catecholamines aide in muscle metabolism. The muscular system also helps protect some endocrine organs. 

The Pharynx follows from both our nasal and oral cavities previously discussed. The oropharynx is a subdivision of the pharynx and is located at the posterior of the mouth, a portion of the throat and in the oral cavity. The laryngopharynx is a place for the passage of both respiration and food. The nasopharynx is for respiration. The pharynx has within itself, two different kinds of muscles - both longitudinal and circular, this allows during contractions for food to effectively push down the length of the pharynx.

The pharynx, or throat, is really a canal that carries swallowed food to the esophagus. The esophagus works as a transporter for food to go to the ever important stomach. For non digestive processes, the esophagus also can lead air to the trachea. This organ follows down the digestive system for roughly 8-10” before reaching the stomach. In these eight to ten inches the esophagus is composed of a few different tissue layers: the mucosa, the submucosa, the muscularis externa, and the serosa. The esophagus is anterior the spine, and posterior the trachea and heart. Once the esophagus reaches past the diaphragm, it leads directly to the stomach at the esophageal sphincter. 

The stomach is vital for the holding of our food. The stomach is an organ where it’s total size depends on what it’s capacity is at, varying up to a whole gallon in size, typically 10 inches at most in length. Like the pharynx, the stomach has longitudinal and circular muscles, but uniquely has another muscle called the oblique layer. This third layer controls more than just carrying food down it’s length, it permits also the mixing and breaking down of foods. This is an important role in the stomach for nutrients breakdowns. The stomach contains acids which would otherwise be harmful to the walls if it were not for the mucosa, which works to keep the walls protected from acids and enzymes. This is very important because it’s these very acids and enzymes which work to fix the consistency and break down the foods for their journey. Post digestion in the stomach, the remainder of food (chyme) travels to the small intestine, meeting it at the pyloric sphincter.

At an incredible length of seven to thirteen feet, the small intestine is the longest organ of the digestive system, and the powerhouse. The small intestine is responsible for a good majority of nutrition intake from food. Fortunately, because the small intestine cannot intake large quantities of food, the pyloric sphincter mediates how much is to enter the small intestine at one time. Once food enters the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum (the constituents of the small intestine) the chemical digestion continues. Lots of enzymes are secreted from the small intestine, but some of the more significant enzymes are those from the pancreas. To aid the process of food absorption and digestion - microvilli, villi, and plicae circulares.

Once at the end of the small intestine, the next reasonable progression would of course be the large intestine. Meeting the small intestine at the ileocecal valve, the large intestine is called such not because of it’s length, but because of it’s diameter. The large intestine is primarily a intestine to produce feces. It does so by absorbing the liquid of the food (or what is left after the journey through the small intestine) and traveling down its subdivisions. The colon transports feces to the anal canal which leads to the anus. The location which feces is excreted from the body. The alkaline mucus produced by the goblet cells permits the feces to travel down these subdivisions.