What are the major organ systems in the human body? What are their functions? Discover a detailed exploration of the 11 key organ systems that keep us alive and thriving.

The Vital Organs of the Human Body

The human body contains five organs that are considered vital for survival: the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and lungs. These organs work together as part of various organ systems to keep the body functioning properly. Let’s take a closer look at each of these vital organs and their key roles:

The heart is located in the center of the chest and is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. Blood carries oxygen, nutrients, and other essential substances to the cells, while also removing waste products.

The brain is the control center of the body, located in the head. It is responsible for processing all thoughts, memories, perceptions, and emotions.

The kidneys are situated in the back of the abdomen, one on each side of the body. Their primary function is to filter blood and produce urine, which is then excreted from the body.

The liver is located on the right side of the abdomen. It has numerous important functions, including filtering blood, producing bile for digestion, and creating proteins necessary for blood clotting.

The lungs are positioned on either side of the upper chest. Their main role is to facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood.

The 11 Organ Systems of the Human Body

In addition to the five vital organs, the human body is composed of 11 major organ systems that work together to keep us alive and functioning. These systems include:

Integumentary System

The integumentary system consists of the skin, hair, and nails. It serves as the body’s first line of defense against pathogens, regulates body temperature, and helps eliminate waste through sweat.

Skeletal System

The skeletal system is made up of bones, joints, and teeth. It provides structural support, enables movement, protects internal organs, stores calcium, and produces blood cells.

Muscular System

The muscular system includes three types of muscles: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. Skeletal muscles allow for voluntary movement, smooth muscles control involuntary movements like digestion, and cardiac muscle powers the beating of the heart.

Nervous System

The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. It is responsible for processing sensory information and controlling both voluntary and involuntary responses in the body.

Endocrine System

The endocrine system is made up of glands that produce hormones, chemical messengers that regulate various bodily processes like growth, metabolism, and sexual function.

Cardiovascular System

The cardiovascular system includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood. It is responsible for circulating blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout the body.

Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system is a network of tissues, organs, and vessels that play a crucial role in the body’s immune response. It includes the lymph nodes, spleen, and thymus gland.

Respiratory System

The respiratory system, which includes the lungs, trachea, and diaphragm, facilitates the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the body and the external environment.

Digestive System

The digestive system breaks down the food we eat, allowing the body to absorb the necessary nutrients. It consists of the gastrointestinal tract and associated organs like the stomach, liver, and pancreas.

Urinary System

The urinary system is responsible for filtering waste and excess water from the blood and eliminating it from the body in the form of urine. It includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.

Reproductive System

The reproductive system is responsible for the production of gametes (sperm and eggs) and the facilitation of sexual reproduction. It includes the gonads (ovaries and testes) and associated organs.

How the Organ Systems Work Together

While each of the 11 organ systems has its own distinct functions, they all work together to maintain homeostasis and ensure the overall health and well-being of the human body. For example, the cardiovascular system delivers oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, while the respiratory system replenishes that oxygen and removes carbon dioxide. The nervous system coordinates the activities of the various organ systems, and the endocrine system regulates their function through the release of hormones.

This intricate and interdependent network of organ systems is what allows the human body to adapt to its environment, respond to changes, and carry out the complex processes necessary for life. Understanding the roles and interactions of these systems is crucial for maintaining good health and managing various medical conditions.

Exploring the Organ Systems in More Detail

Each of the 11 major organ systems in the human body is a complex and fascinating topic worthy of further exploration. In the sections that follow, we will dive deeper into the anatomy and physiology of these systems, examining their specific structures, functions, and how they work together to support overall health and wellness.

10.4: Human Organs and Organ Systems

Human Organs

An organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. Organs exist in most multicellular organisms, including not only humans and other animals but also plants. In single-celled organisms such as bacteria, the functional equivalent of an organ is an organelle.

Tissues in Organs

Although organs consist of multiple tissue types, many organs are composed of the main tissue that is associated with the organ’s major function and other tissues that play supporting roles. The main tissue may be unique to that specific organ. For example, the main tissue of the heart is the cardiac muscle, which performs the heart’s major function of pumping blood and is found only in the heart. The heart also includes nervous and connective tissues that are required for it to perform its major function. For example, nervous tissues control the beating of the heart, and connective tissues make up heart valves that keep blood flowing in just one direction through the heart.

Vital Organs

The human body contains five organs that are considered vital for survival. They are the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and lungs. The locations of these five organs and several other internal organs are shown in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\). If any of the five vital organs stops functioning, the death of the organism is imminent without medical intervention.

1. The heart is located in the center of the chest, and its function is to keep blood flowing through the body. Blood carries substances to cells that they need and also carries away wastes from cells.
2. The brain is located in the head and functions as the body’s control center. It is the seat of all thoughts, memories, perceptions, and feelings.
3. The two kidneys are located in the back of the abdomen on either side of the body. Their function is to filter blood and form urine, which is excreted from the body.
4. The liver is located on the right side of the abdomen. It has many functions, including filtering blood, secreting bile that is needed for digestion, and producing proteins necessary for blood clotting.
5. The two lungs are located on either side of the upper chest. Their main function is exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Use this shadow diagram of human anatomy to locate the five organs described above: heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and lungs. Do you know the functions of any of the other organs in the diagram?

Human Organ Systems

Functionally related organs often cooperate to form whole organ systems. Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\) and Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\) show 11 human organ systems, including separate diagrams for the male and female reproductive systems. Some of the organs and functions of the organ systems are identified in the figure. Each system is also described in more detail in the text that follows. Most of these human organ systems are also the subject of separate chapters in this book.

Integumentary System

Organs of the integumentary system include the skin, hair, and nails. The skin is the largest organ in the body. It encloses and protects the body and is the site of many sensory receptors. The skin is the body’s first defense against pathogens, and it also helps regulate body temperature and eliminate wastes in sweat.

Skeletal System

The skeletal system consists of bones, joints, teeth. The bones of the skeletal system are connected by tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Functions of the skeletal system include supporting the body and giving it shape. Along with the muscular system, the skeletal system enables the body to move. The bones of the skeletal system also protect internal organs, store calcium, and produce red and white blood cells.

Muscular System

The muscular system consists of three different types of muscles, including skeletal muscles, which are attached to bones by tendons and allow for voluntary movements of the body. Smooth muscle tissues control the involuntary movements of internal organs, such as the organs of the digestive system, allowing food to move through the system. Smooth muscles in blood vessels allow vasoconstriction and vasodilation and thereby help regulate body temperature. Cardiac muscle tissues control the involuntary beating of the heart, allowing it to pump blood through the blood vessels of the cardiovascular system.

Nervous System

The nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord, which make up the central nervous system, and nerves that run throughout the rest of the body, which make up the peripheral nervous system. The nervous system controls both voluntary and involuntary responses of the human organism and also detects and processes sensory information.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Organ systems: Integumentary, Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine, and Cardiovascular

Endocrine System

The endocrine system is made up of glands that secrete hormones into the blood, which carries the hormones throughout the body. Endocrine hormones are chemical messengers that control many body functions, including metabolism, growth, and sexual development. The master gland of the endocrine system is the pituitary gland, which produces hormones that control other endocrine glands. Some of the other endocrine glands include the pancreas, thyroid gland, and adrenal glands.

Cardiovascular System

The cardiovascular system (also called the circulatory system) includes the heart, blood, and three types of blood vessels: arteries, veins, and capillaries. The heart pumps blood, which travels through the blood vessels. The main function of the cardiovascular system is transport. Oxygen from the lungs and nutrients from the digestive system are transported to cells throughout the body. Carbon dioxide and other waste materials are picked up from the cells and transported to organs such as the lungs and kidneys for elimination from the body. The cardiovascular system also equalizes body temperature and transports endocrine hormones to cells in the body where they are needed.

Urinary System

The urinary system includes the pair of kidneys, which filter excess water and a waste product called urea from the blood and form urine. Two tubes called ureters carry the urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder, which stores the urine until it is excreted from the body through another tube named the urethra. The kidneys also produce an enzyme called renin and a variety of hormones. These substances help regulate blood pressure, the production of red blood cells, and the balance of calcium and phosphorus in the body.

Respiratory System

Organs and other structures of the respiratory system include the nasal passages, lungs, and a long tube called the trachea, which carries air between the nasal passages and lungs. The main function of the respiratory system is to deliver oxygen to the blood and remove carbon dioxide from the body. Gases are exchanged between the lungs and blood across the walls of capillaries lining tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs.

Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system is sometimes considered to be part of the immune system. It consists of a network of lymph vessels and ducts that collect excess fluid (called lymph) from extracellular spaces in tissues and transport the fluid to the bloodstream. The lymphatic system also includes many small collections of tissue, called lymph nodes, and an organ called the spleen, both of which remove pathogens and cellular debris from the lymph or blood. In addition, the thymus gland in the lymphatic system produces some types of white blood cells (lymphocytes) that fight infections.

Digestive System

The digestive system consists of several main organs — including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines — that form a long tube called the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Food moves through this tract where it is digested, its nutrients absorbed, and its waste products excreted. The digestive system also includes accessory organs (such as the pancreas and liver) that produce enzymes and other substances needed for digestion but through which food does not actually pass.

Male and Female Reproductive Systems

The reproductive system is the only body system that differs substantially between individuals. There is a range of Biological sex, but most books divide them into male and female. We will discuss the Biology of sex in detail in the reproductive and development chapters.

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Organ Systems: Lymphatic, Respiratory, Digestive, Urinary, male and female reproductive

Feature: Human Biology in the News

Organ transplantation has been performed by surgeons for more than six decades, and you’ve no doubt heard of people receiving heart, lung, and kidney transplants. However, you may have never heard of a penis transplant. The first U.S. penis transplant was performed in May of 2016 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The 15-hour procedure involved a team of more than 50 physicians, surgeons, and nurses. The patient was a 64-year-old man who had lost his penis to cancer in 2012. The surgical milestone involved grafting microscopic blood vessels and nerves of the donor organ to those of the recipient. As with most transplant patients, this patient will have to take immunosuppressing drugs for the rest of his life so his immune system will not reject the organ. The transplant team said that their success with this transplant “holds promise for patients with devastating genitourinary injuries and disease.” They also hope their experiences will be helpful for gender reassignment surgery.

The Abdomen (Human Anatomy) – Picture, Function, Parts, Definition, and More

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The abdomen (commonly called the belly) is the body space between the thorax (chest) and pelvis. The diaphragm forms the upper surface of the abdomen. At the level of the pelvic bones, the abdomen ends and the pelvis begins.

The abdomen contains all the digestive organs, including the stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder. These organs are held together loosely by connecting tissues (mesentery) that allow them to expand and to slide against each other. The abdomen also contains the kidneys and spleen.

Many important blood vessels travel through the abdomen, including the aorta, inferior vena cava, and dozens of their smaller branches. In the front, the abdomen is protected by a thin, tough layer of tissue called fascia. In front of the fascia are the abdominal muscles and skin. In the rear of the abdomen are the back muscles and spine.

Abdomen Conditions

• Peritonitis: Inflammation of the covering of the abdominal structures, causing abdominal wall rigidity and severe pain. Usually, this is due to a ruptured or infected abdominal organ.
• Acute abdomen: A medical phrase doctors use to suggest that peritonitis or some other emergency is present and surgery is likely needed.
• Appendicitis: Inflammation of the appendix, in the lower right colon. Usually, an inflamed appendix must be removed by surgery.
• Cholecystitis: Inflammation of the gallbladder, causing severe right-sided abdominal pain. A gallstone blocking the duct exiting the gallbladder is usually responsible.
• Dyspepsia: The feeling of an upset stomach or indigestion. Dyspepsia can result from benign or more serious conditions.
• Constipation: Having fewer than three bowel movements per week. Diet and exercise may help but many people will need to see their health care providers.
• Gastritis: Inflammation of the stomach, often causing nausea and/or pain. Gastritis can be caused by alcohol, NSAIDs, H. pylori infection, or other factors.
• Peptic ulcer disease: Ulcers are erosions and peptic refers to acid. Peptic ulcers are ulcers in the stomach and duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). The usual cause is either an infection with H. pylori or taking anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen.
• Intestinal obstruction: A single area of the small or large intestine can become blocked or the entire intestine may stop working. Vomiting and abdominal distension are symptoms.
• Gastroparesis: The stomach empties slowly due to nerve damage from diabetes or other conditions. Nausea and vomiting are symptoms.
• Pancreatitis: Inflammation of the pancreas. Alcohol and gallstones are the most common causes of pancreatitis. Other causes include drugs and trauma; about 10% to 15% of cases are from unknown causes.
• Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver, usually due to viral infection. Drugs, alcohol, or immune system problems can also cause hepatitis.
• Cirrhosis: Scarring of the liver caused by chronic inflammation. Heavy drinking or chronic hepatitis are the most common causes.
• Ascites: Abdominal fluid buildup often caused by cirrhosis. Ascites may cause the abdomen to protrude impressively.
• Abdominal hernia: A weakening or gap in the abdominal fascia allows a section of the intestine to protrude.
• Abdominal distension: Swelling of the abdomen, usually due to an increased amount of intestinal gas.
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm: A weakening of the aorta’s wall creates a balloon-like expansion of the vessel that grows over years. If abdominal aortic aneurysms grow large enough, they may burst.

 

Normal organ weights in men: part II-the brain, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys

Organomegaly can be a sign of disease and pathologic abnormality, although standard tables defining organomegaly have yet to be established and universally accepted. This study was designed to address the issue and to determine a normal weight for the major organs in adult human males. A prospective study of healthy men aged 18 to 35 years who died of sudden, traumatic deaths was undertaken. Cases were excluded if there was a history of medical illness including illicit drug use, if prolonged medical treatment was performed, if there was a prolonged period between the time of injury and death, if body length and weight could not be accurately assessed, or if any illness or intoxication was identified after gross and microscopic analysis including evidence of systemic disease. Individual organs were excluded if there was significant injury to the organ, which could have affected the weight. A total of 232 cases met criteria for inclusion in the study during the approximately 6-year period of data collection from 2005 to 2011. The decedents had a mean age of 23.9 years and ranged in length from 146 to 193 cm, with a mean length of 173 cm. The weight ranged from 48.5 to 153 kg, with a mean weight of 76.4 kg. Most decedents (87%) died of either ballistic or blunt force (including craniocerebral) injuries. The mean weight of the brain was 1407 g (range, 1070-1767 g), that of the liver was 1561 g (range, 838-2584 g), that of the spleen was 139 g (range, 43-344 g), that of the right lung was 445 g (range, 185-967 g), that of the left lung was 395 g (range, 186-885 g), that of the right kidney was 129 g (range, 79-223 g), and that of the left kidney was 137 g (range, 74-235 g). Regression analysis was performed and showed that there were insufficient associations between organ weight and body length, body weight, and body mass index to allow for predictability. The authors, therefore, propose establishing a reference range for organ weights in men, much like those in use for other laboratory tests including hemoglobin, hematocrit, or glucose. The following reference ranges (95% inclusion) are proposed: brain, 1179-1621 g; liver, 968-1860 g; spleen, 28-226 g; right lung, 155-720 g; left lung, 112-675 g; right kidney, 81-160 g; and left kidney, 83-176 g.

Water and the Human Body

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The Water in You: Water and the Human Body

​​​​​​​Water serves a number of essential functions to keep us all going

Think of what you need to survive, really just survive. Food? Water? Air? Facebook? Naturally, I’m going to concentrate on water here. Water is of major importance to all living things; in some organisms, up to 90% of their body weight comes from water. Up to 60% of the human adult body is water.

According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

Each day humans must consume a certain amount of water to survive. Of course, this varies according to age and gender, and also by where someone lives. Generally, an adult male needs about 3 liters (3.2 quarts) per day while an adult female needs about 2.2 liters (2.3 quarts) per day. All of the water a person needs does not have to come from drinking liquids, as some of this water is contained in the food we eat.

Water serves a number of essential functions to keep us all going

• A vital nutrient to the life of every cell, acts first as a building material.
• It regulates our internal body temperature by sweating and respiration
• The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream;
• It assists in flushing waste mainly through urination
• acts as a shock absorber for brain, spinal cord, and fetus
• forms saliva
• lubricates joints

According to Dr. Jeffrey Utz, Neuroscience, pediatrics, Allegheny University, different people have different percentages of their bodies made up of water. Babies have the most, being born at about 78%. By one year of age, that amount drops to about 65%. In adult men, about 60% of their bodies are water. However, fat tissue does not have as much water as lean tissue. In adult women, fat makes up more of the body than men, so they have about 55% of their bodies made of water. Thus:

• Babies and kids have more water (as a percentage) than adults.
• Women have less water than men (as a percentage).
• People with more fatty tissue have less water than people with less fatty tissue (as a percentage).

There just wouldn’t be any you, me, or Fido the dog without the existence of an ample liquid water supply on Earth. The unique qualities and properties of water are what make it so important and basic to life. The cells in our bodies are full of water. The excellent ability of water to dissolve so many substances allows our cells to use valuable nutrients, minerals, and chemicals in biological processes.

Water’s “stickiness” (from surface tension) plays a part in our body’s ability to transport these materials all through ourselves. The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream. No less important is the ability of water to transport waste material out of our bodies.

 

Sources and more information:

• The Nature of Water: Environment Canada
• Project WET (PDF)

Female & Male Reproductive Organs and Sexual Anatomy

What is reproductive and sexual anatomy?

Reproductive and sexual anatomy includes your genitals and your internal sex and reproductive organs. Everyone’s reproductive and sexual anatomy looks a little different.

What parts of our bodies are sexual?

Reproductive and sexual anatomy (also known as sex anatomy) includes the sex organs on the outside of your body and the sex and reproductive organs on the inside of your body. Some examples of sex organs are the vulva (which includes your vagina) and penis. Reproductive organs include things like the uterus and testicles.

That being said, any part of your body can be sexual. You might have heard that your brain is your most important sex organ. That’s because it controls your sexual response — how your body reacts to arousal, sex, or masturbation. It’s also where your sexual fantasies and identities are.

You can also think of your skin as one big sex organ, with its millions of sensitive nerves. Parts of your body that when touched make you feel aroused are called “erogenous zones.” Not everyone has the same erogenous zones, but common ones are breasts and nipples, the anus, neck, lips, mouth, tongue, back, fingers and toes, hands, feet, earlobes, and inner thighs. You get the idea: Any part of your body can be considered sexual depending on how it makes you feel.

Does everyone have the same sexual anatomy?

Everyone’s sexual anatomy is a little bit different. Most people have either a penis and scrotum or a vulva, but each person’s genitals are uniquely their own.

When you were born, your doctor probably assigned you a sex — male or female — based on your sex anatomy. But that doesn’t necessarily say anything about your gender identity.

Some people’s assigned sex and gender identity are pretty much the same, or in line with each other. These people are called cisgender. Other people feel that the sex they were assigned at birth doesn’t match their gender identity. So, for example, a person could be born with a penis, but identify as female. These people often call themselves transgender or trans.

Other people have sex anatomies that don’t fit the typical definition of female or male. They may be described as intersex. There are lots of different combinations of body parts and hormones that fall under the intersex umbrella. Being intersex doesn’t necessarily have any connection with a person’s gender identity.

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A Case Study of Ndola Teaching Hospital

The objective of the research was to study the correlation of internal organ weights with body weight and length in normal adult Zambians. The study involved 114 (83 males and 31 females) forensic autopsies from Ndola Teaching Hospital done over a period of 12 months. The cases included autopsies of unnatural deaths including road traffic accidents and homicide. Cases where information about age and origin of the person was not available were left out of the study. The age of the decedents ranged from 16 to 85 years. The data was analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient to determine correlation. values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. It was observed that the heart, liver, left kidney, right kidney, brain, and left lung were positively correlated to body weight, while only the brain and the left lung were positively correlated to the height in the male population. In the female population, the heart, liver, right kidney, brain, and right lung were positively correlated to the weight of the body, while only the right kidney was positively correlated to the height of the body.

1. Introduction

The weight of internal organs is important in forensic medicine and pathology, because the weight of internal organs is useful in determining whether the organ is normal or pathological. Many diseases have been shown to change the weight of internal organs [1, 2]. The change in the weight of an internal organ can be used in interpreting the opinion regarding the cause of death during an autopsy. Changes in the weight of an internal organ may be the only evidence to show that an organ is not normal. For example, the elevated weight of the heart may be the only evidence to myocardial hypertrophy that is often macroscopically and microscopically difficult to recognize [3]. In a similar vein, in a study by Greaves in 2000 [4], he reported that changes in kidney weight may also reflect renal toxicity, tubular hypertrophy, or chronic progressive nephropathy. In forensic pathology as well as in clinical medicine any deviation from the normal weight of an internal organ would be indicative of a pathology to that organ or a compensatory mechanism in response to applied stress to an organ. For example, if there is increased pulmonary resistance, the right ventricle of the heart may enlarge in response to the increase in the pressure required to pump blood through the pulmonary circulation [5]. The increase in the weight of an internal organ can only be determined if there is a reference weight, in this case the recorded weight of that internal organ to which the weight of an internal organ can be compared to. Since the determination of the normal weight of an internal organ is based on comparison with the reference data, the reference data should as much as possible be representative and be as accurate as can be to show that the reference weight shows the normal value [6]. The weight of internal organs can be a good diagnostic criteria for interpreting autopsy information if the weights of internal organs are compared to the appropriate reference weights [7, 8]. This means that normality for the weight of internal organs in a given population should be accurately defined. One of the ways to define this data is to generate reference tables for that population, meaning the average weight to be used as reference information should be generated from the people of that population. Another method that can be used to normalize the information is correlation of internal organ weights to body length and body weight. As it stands Zambian pathologists use references from American or European textbooks. The problem with these sources of information is that they may not be suitable for the Zambian population when interpreting postmortem cases. This could lead to inaccurate interpretation of postmortem cases. Human internal organ weights not only are determined by race, age, or gender but are also anticipated to be dependent on environmental and social economic conditions which may be quite different in various parts of the world. Hence, the weights of organs reported from other countries may not be the same as that for Zambian population. The current work was undertaken to study the average weight of Zambian population and correlate the weight of internal organs with body weight and height.

2. Materials and Methods

The study was undertaken at Ndola Teaching Hospital mortuary. The organs were weighed from selected bodies that satisfied the criteria for inclusion in the study. The bodies were selected from postmortem cases brought to the pathologists for forensic investigations for a period of 12 months. During this period, 114 cases were sampled, and all the autopsies that were used in the study were done by the same pathologist and anatomist. In the study, subjects who died due to natural causes were not included; this was because the organs in patients succumbing to a variety of morbid anatomical lesions or disease process were considered to be pathological. The assumption was that the ideal subjects for establishing the weight of internal organs would for those dying from accidental and violent deaths [9]. The assumption is that decedents who die accidentally are healthy. For the purposes of this study, normal organ was defined as an organ from a person who did not have any evidence of any type of disease or infection that would damage that organ: the gross appearance of the organs had to be without any evidence of any type of damage and or pathology.

2.1. Inclusion Criteria

Cases of accidents and homicide, where there was no evidence of gross pathology or trauma to the internal organs of interest were selected for inclusion. Postmortem examination was carried out within 24 hours and petrification had not occurred on the body and organs. If the body stayed too long more than 48 hours in the fridges at the mortuary that case was not included. The decedents were all natives of Zambia. The autopsy case was a forensic or medical legal autopsy.

2.2. Exclusion Criteria

Cases not satisfying the above criteria were excluded.

2.3. Ethical Approval

Ethical clearance was granted by Tropical Diseases Research Center ethical review committee: IRB registration number: 00002911. FWA number is 00003729. The study number for this study is TDRC/ERC/01/07/2014.

3. Data Collection

The height was measured from head to heel using a height measure in centimeters. The body was weighed naked [6, 7]. Using a scale 0.0 Kg to 300 kg with accuracy of ±100 g, the scale was calibrated by the Zambia weight and measure agency and 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 Kg control weights were used to calibrate the scale every time before it was used. The internal organs were weighed using a calibrated electronic balance 0.0 g to 5000 g with accuracy of ±0.1 g. The collected data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS program version 23. They were divided into gender: male and female. Person’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationships between body weight and body length of the internal organs at .

Results. The subjects of the study were divided into groups comprised of males and females.

4. Discussion

The sample population for this study was made up of people who had died in road traffic accidents and homicide cases that were brought to Ndola Teaching Hospital for autopsy. 114 cases were selected for the study: 31 females and 83 males. The age group for the females was 18–85 years with the average age of years, while that of the males was 16–85 years with an average of years (see Table 1). The weight and height of the decedents were also measured, and the average weight and height for the female population were  Kg and  cm, respectively, while those of the male population were  Kg and  cm (See Table 1). 90% of the samples decedents deaths were road traffic accidents and 10% suspected murder cases.

Male Female Min–max Mean and SD Min–max Mean and SD Age 16–85 years 38.1 ± 16.0 years 18–85 years 39.9 ± 15.2 years Weight 33 Kg–87 Kg 58.5 ± 11.20 Kg 36–77 Kg 57.5 ± 11.2 Kg Height 149–187 cm 169.0 ± 7.84 cm 151–176 cm 163.4 ± 6.7 cm Heart 169–379 g 279.2 ± 44.9 g 180–451 g 268.4 ± 64.2 g Liver 649–1894 g 1285.3 ± 270.1 g 828–2154 g 1367.9 ± 357.2 g Spleen 44–468 g 169.9 ± 107.2 g 28–515 g 161.7 ± 93.4 g Right kidney 70–175 g 110.0 ± 22.8 g 61–152 g 101.2 ± 20.3 g Left kidney 71–193 g 117.9 ± 27.4 g 75–180 g 108.3 ± 23.0 g Brain 1054–1630 1335.0 g  ± 125.5 1064–1400 g 1228.3 ± 76.4 g Left lung 144–922 442.0 g  ± 152.3 g 216–691 g 365.7 ± 119.8 g Right lung 230–1053 504.6 ± 174.6 g 235–795 g 405.0 ± 116.0 g

4.1. Heart

The weight of the heart was 279.2 ± 44.9 g in males and 268.4 ± 64.2 g in the female population representing 0.48% and 0.47% of body weight, respectively (Tables 1 and 3). Body weight percent of the heart was different when compared to other authors [10, 11]. The weight of the heart was positively correlated with body weight in both males and females at (see Table 2). The weight of the heart was not correlated to the height of the body in both males and females (see Table 2). Other researchers [7] found that the weight of the heart was positively correlated to the weight in both males and females, while the weight of the heart was only positively correlated to the height of the body in males and not in female decedents in Thai population which is different from the findings of this study. In the same vein, Hanzlick and Rydzewski [12] found that the weight of the heart in males is correlated to body weight and length, whereas the weight of the heart in females is correlated only to body weight but not correlated to body height.

Organ Male Female Body weight Body height Body weight Body height Heart Liver Spleen Left kidney Right kidney Brain Left lung Right lung

The percent body weight was also calculated for the weight of internal organs. This was done to get an estimate of percent body weight for each organ that was studied.

Organ Weight Male %  Body weight Organ Weight Female %  Body weight Heart 279.2 ± 44.9 g 0.48% Heart 268.4 ± 64.2 g 0.47% Liver 1285.3 ± 270.1 g 2.20% Liver 1367.9 ± 357.2 g 2.38% Spleen 169.9 ± 107.2 g 0.29% Spleen 161.7 ± 93.4 g 0.28% Left kidney 117.9 ± 27.4 g 0.20% Left kidney 108.3 ± 23.0 g 0.19% Right kidney 110.0 ± 22.8 g 0.19% Right kidney 101.2 ± 20.3 g 0.18% Brain 1335.0 g  ± 125.5 2.28% Brain 1228.3 ± 76.4 g 2.13% Left lung 442.0 g  ± 152.3 g 0.76% Left lung 365.7 ± 119.8 g 0.64% Right lung 504.6 ± 174.6 g 0.86% Right lung 405.0 ± 116.0 g 0.70% Body weight 58.5 ± 11.2 Kg   Body weight 57.47 ± 11.2 Kg

4.2. Spleen

The weight of the spleen was found to be 169.9 ± 107.2 g in males and 161.7±93.4 g in females (Table 1). In this study, the weight of the spleen was not correlated to the weight and height of the spleen at (Table 2). Other authors have indicated that the spleen is positively correlated to body weight in males [7]. Similarly, Mathuramon et al. [6] found that the weight of the spleen is positively correlated to body weight and height in males and not in females. It is postulated that this may have been because the population that was studied is in a malaria endemic country and the size of the spleen could have been due to parasitic infections. Parasitic infections have been observed to cause increase to the weight of the spleen [13]. The weight of the spleen was 0.28% in males and 0.28% in females (Table 3). The figures in this study are higher than the findings of Tanna et al. [14] in which they found percent body weight of the spleen at 0.15–0.25% in males and 0.18–0.24% in females.

4.3. Liver

The weight of the liver was found to be 1285.3 ± 270.1 g and that of females 1367.9 ± 357.2 g (Table 1). The weight of the liver was positively correlated to body weight in both males and females at (Table 2). The finding is similar to the findings in the Thai population [6]; however the weight of the liver did not correlate with the height of the decedents in the study (see Table 2). The percent body weight of the liver in males was 2.2% while it was 2.4% in female decedents (see Table 3). The findings are different from those of Standring [10] and Tanna et al. [14].

4.4. Lungs

The weight of the lungs was found to be 442.0 ± 152.3 g left lung and 504.6 ± 174.6 g right lung in the male population while in the female population the weight of the left lung was and the right lung 405.0 ± 116.0 g (Table 1). The percent body weight of the lungs in males was 0.76% for the left lung and 0.86% for the right lung. In the female decedents, the left lung was 0.64% and the right lung was 0.70% of body weight (Table 3). The findings in this study are different from other researchers [14]. The weight of the left lung was positively correlated to the weight and height of the body in males; however there was no correlation with either body weight or body height in the female decedents at (Table 2). The weight of the right lung was positively correlated to the weight of the body in females while there was no correlation with the height of the decedents. In the male decedents, there was no correlation with the weight of the right lung with body weight and body height. Other studies which have shown that there is a positive correlation between body weights in males had the weight of the lungs combined to give total lung weight [6, 7, 15]. In this work, the left lung and right lung were analyzed independent of each other.

4.5. Kidneys

The weight of the kidneys was found to be 110.0 ± 22.8 g right kidney and left kidney in the males and 101.2 ± 20.3 g right kidney and  g left kidney in females (Table 1). The weight of the left kidney and right kidney represented 0.20% and 0.19%, respectively, in the male decedents (see Table 3). The left kidney represented 0.19% and the right kidney 0.18% in females (Table 1). The findings are similar to findings by Tanna et al. [14] for the percentage body weight of the kidneys. Both the left and right kidney were positively correlated to body weight at (Table 2), while there was no correlation for both the left and right kidney with body height in the male decedents. In the female decedents, the right kidney was positively correlated with body weight and height while the left kidney was not. This is different from the findings of Prakash et al. 2013. Other authors have shown that the combined weight of the kidneys is positively correlated to body weight and height in both male and female decedents [6].

4.6. Brain

The weight of the brain was 1335.0 ± 25.5 g in the male decedents and 1228.3 ± 76.4 g in females representing 2.28% and 2.31% of body weight, respectively, in male and female decedents (see Tables 1 and 3). The average weight of the brain in this study was positively correlated with the weight and height of the male decedents, while, in female decedents, the weight of the brain was positively correlated with the weight of the body but not the height of the body (Table 2). The percentage body weight of the liver in this population was greater than that of the Bhavnagar region of India [14]. A study by Mathuramon et al. [6] shows that the weight of the brain is not positively correlated to the height of the body in the decedents in both males and females; this is different from the findings of this study. Prakash et al. [15] however found that the weight of the brain was positively correlated to the weight of the body in female and not in male decedents.

4.7. Strengths of the Study

It should be noted that this study differs from other studies because the data was collected prospectively. By so doing the researchers were able to see the subjects which gave the researchers more information on the rejection and inclusion criteria, other studies that have used retrospective records to analyze the correlation of internal organ weights with body weight and height relied on information collected by others and may include organ weights from subjects that maybe otherwise would have been rejected. The same pathologist and anatomist collected the data which means that the method of cutting and weighing the organs was consistent thereby reducing errors which would arise from having many people involved in collection of data.

4.8. Limitation and Weaknesses of the Study

The study had the following limitations: there was no information about the kind of life the subjects in the study lived and the medical condition of the subject at the time of death was not known. The answers about the medical condition of the subjects would have helped a great deal in refining the weight of internal organs. Histological studies could have also helped in removing weights of internal organs that may have looked normal or were of gross appearance and yet pathological. It was not easy to get a large sample size, especially with the female sample which were 32 in number, in which case the interpretation of the data for the female population should be done with a lot of caution. The study may not be suitable in interpreting autopsy of people from other provinces within Zambia.

5. Conclusion

In this study, it was observed that the heart, liver, left kidney, right kidney, brain, and left lung were positively correlated to body weight, while only the brain and the left lung were positively correlated to the height in the male population. In the female population, the heart, liver, right kidney, brain, and right lung were positively correlated to the weight of the body, while only the right kidney was positively correlated to the height of the body. Further work is required with a larger sample population to ascertain the true relationships of the weight of internal organ with body weight and height.

6. Recommendations

Further work will need to be done in this area with a large population of at least 2000 subjects to improve the statistical validity of the arguments. All regions of Zambia will have to be covered not just one center like Ndola central hospital in this case. Multiple centers and increased period of study may increase the sample size.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Study Guide to the Systems of the Body

Last updated: December 27, 2020

Have you ever wondered how your food is digested, or how you can breathe, or even move your arms? If you think about it, it’s pretty amazing that the human body can do all of these things and more. These actions are made possible by what is called organ systems which are collections of organs, body parts, and tissues that work together for a common goal. For example, each one of your bones is part of the skeletal system; they work collectively to provide support and movement so that you can walk and run. Your bones also work together to protect your important internal organs, such as the heart, lungs, and brain. Other organ systems present in your body are the circulatory, respiratory, muscular, digestive, integumentary, endocrine, reproductive, and nervous systems. All of these systems have specific functions but they cannot function independently. They rely on all the other systems in order to work properly. Each system is very important and every person has them. Below you will find a brief overview of each body system along with helpful educational links for adults and instructional links for teachers.

Circulatory system

The circulatory system consists of the heart and blood vessels which encompass all of the arteries, veins, and capillaries. The arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart, and veins return deoxygenated blood back to the heart. The main purpose of the circulatory system is to transport blood, oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to and from different cells and tissues throughout the body. This system works hand-in-hand with the respiratory system to facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the blood per the alveoli in the lungs. It is also very important for the removal of wastes and poisons within the body via the digestive and urinary systems.

• Project heart kids — Circulatory System: A neat animation of how the circulatory system works.
• Your cardiovascular system: Kids who are interested in learning more about the cardiovascular system and what it is can click on this link. On this page, readers will learn more details about the heart, the bloodstream, and how blood gets its oxygen!
• A printout sheet of the human heart: This page opens up to a printout of the human heart that can be colored. The printout has various parts of the heart labeled.
• Introduction to the circulatory system: A series of lesson plans for learning about the circulatory system. Blood vessels and how to check one’s pulse are a part of the lesson plans provided.
• Sail the circulatory system game: Play this game to learn more about the circulatory system.
• All about the heart for kids: Watch a great video about the heart and the circulatory system. After the video, kids can read all about it as well.

Respiratory system

The respiratory system primarily consists of the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, lungs, and diaphragm. Its primary functions are to absorb oxygen through the inhalation (inspiration) of air and to expel carbon dioxide back out into the atmosphere through exhalation (expiration). This process is commonly called ventilation, otherwise known as breathing, which facilitates the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and atmosphere. Within the lungs, oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged via the alveoli, which are tiny air sacs where this action takes place. During this process, the newly oxygenated blood is pumped through the circulatory system by way of the heart to all of the cells, tissues, and organs throughout the body.

• The Respiratory system: Educational information provided by the NIH. Includes an overview of the respiratory system, what happens when you breathe, what controls your breathing, and lung diseases and conditions.
• Inner body: Respiratory system: Includes 2D and 3D interactive respiratory system anatomy explorer. Provides information on each section of the respiratory system and an overview of how it all works together.
• Respiratory system elementary school lesson plan: An elementary school lesson plan regarding the respiratory system. The lesson plan includes parts from part A to part D.
• The respiratory system: Watch a video summary of the respiratory system. The video is for kids in the fifth grade.
• Kidz search encyclopedia: Respiratory system: Information about the respiratory system in an easy to understand format. Provides educational information on the respiratory system basics, including breathing, gas exchange, and cellular respiration.

Skeletal system

The skeletal system consists of 206 bones in total and consists of several different types of bones such as long, short, flat, irregular, and sesamoid. It also consists of all the joints, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments within the body. The primary functions of the skeletal system are locomotion, support of the body, and the protection of internal organs such as the brain, heart, and lungs. Bones are also responsible for the production of red blood cells, platelets, and most white blood cells. Minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus are also stored within the bones, with 99% of the body’s calcium being stored here.

• Human skeletal system: Learn about the skeletal system components, types of bones, and types of joints.
• Systems: Skeletal system: Learn about the skeletal system inside and out by clicking on this link. While reading this page, people can also learn what the skeletal system does and how it works with other systems in the body.
• Learn the skeletal system: Label the bones: An interactive game for grades 4 and 5 that allows kids to label the various bones of the skeletal system.
• Human body: Human skeleton printout: Kids can ask their parents to print out this skeleton for coloring, or it can be colored online. Spaces are available for labeling the various parts.
• Skeleton match activity: Learning about the common and proper names of bones can be fun. Print this PDF and connect the common names of the bones with the proper names.
• The skeletal system: Read about the three major jobs that the skeletal system does. This link also tells how many bones there are in the human body.

Muscular system

The muscular system consists of 650 skeletal, smooth (visceral), and cardiac (myocardium) muscles. The primary functions of this system are movement, joint stabilization, heat generation, maintenance of posture, and the facilitation of blood circulation. Skeletal muscles connect to the bone and work hand-in-hand with the skeletal system to control voluntary movement such as walking and running. Smooth muscles are involuntary muscles that are responsible for the contraction of hollow muscles which include the stomach, intestines, bladder, and uterus. Cardiac muscle is an involuntary muscle found only in the heart and facilitates the circulation of blood by pumping it to the major arteries and out into the body via the circulatory system.

• Muscular system: Facts, Functions, and Diseases: Provides an educational overview of the human muscular system. Includes brief information about diseases of the muscular system.
• Kids health: Your muscles: Easy to understand educational overview of the muscular system.
• Inner body: Muscular system: Provides more in-depth information about the muscular system. Includes a 2D and 3D interactive anatomy explorer.
• Muscle activities for kids: A collection of classroom and home-school activities and lesson plans that teach kids about their muscles.

The Digestive system

The digestive system consists mainly of the gastrointestinal (digestive) tract which includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine (colon). The liver, gallbladder, and pancreas are also a part of this system and are responsible for contributing to the chemical breakdown of ingested food. The main functions of the digestive system are digestion, absorption, and the elimination of waste. Digestion is the breakdown of foods by mechanical and enzymatic processes into substances that can be utilized by the body. Absorption occurs primarily in the small intestine and is the process by which vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are passed on to the blood for energy. Undigested and non-useful nutrients from food pass through to the large intestine and are eliminated as waste. The large intestine is also where the majority of water and sodium is absorbed into the body for use.

• Your digestive system and how it works: A more in-depth look at how the digestive system works, why it’s important, and what happens to your food as it passes through the digestive system.
• Kids health: Digestive system: Click on this link for a neat video about the digestive system.
• Science bob: The digestive system: Learn about the nine basic steps that the human digestive system goes through.
• Help Arnold find his organs game: An online game where kids help Arnold with his digestive system. Organs are moved into the correct location on the character’s body.
• Digestive system animation: A video that shows how the digestive system works for kids in grades 3 to 12.

Nervous system

The nervous system is made up of two major parts: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord and acts as the main control system for the body. The peripheral nervous system is made up of all the nerves and ganglia (nerve cell clusters) found outside of the central nervous system; its role is receiving information from various stimuli and sending it to the brain. The main purpose of the nervous system is perceiving information from inside the body and/or from the external environment (PNS) and determining how the body responds to any changes (CNS). An example of this would be pricking your finger on a needle, your body will immediately pull your finger away in direct response to painful stimuli. This system also regulates basic bodily functions such as breathing, blood pressure, digestion, and the control of body temperature.

• How does the nervous system work?: Educational overview of the nervous system from the NIH.
• Modeling the nervous system: Make a neuron out of clay by following the instructions found on this page. The directions for the model are for kids in third grade through 12th grade.
• Brain and nervous system: Provides easy to understand information for kids about the nervous system. Includes a slideshow on the different parts of the brain, anatomy of the nervous system, how it works, and illnesses of this system.
• Kids’ health: The nervous system: Learn all about the nervous system by clicking on this link to the Women’s and Children’s Health Network. The article even explains how to keep the central nervous system working well!
• The human body systems for kids: On this page, kids can learn all about the various body systems. The last system covered by this PDF document is the nervous system.

Endocrine system

The endocrine system is primarily made up of the hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, pineal body, adrenal glands, pancreas, and reproductive glands. The main function of this system is to help regulate and maintain assorted functions of the body by releasing hormones into the bloodstream to maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is the condition of maintaining balance within the body in relation to its external environment and is vital for life. Hormones are chemical substances produced by a gland, or glands, to affect other parts of the body. Together these glands are responsible for growth and development, breathing and heart rate, reproduction, metabolism, mood, sleep, tissue function, digestion, the release of insulin, and much more.

• Endocrine glands: Provides video addressing each endocrine gland within the body, how it works, and where the glands are located. It also provides an overview of the endocrine system.
• Teens health: Endocrine system: Provides educational information for teens regarding each gland and the hormones they produce. Includes an overview of the endocrine system along with common disease conditions.
• Activity: Endocrine system: Printable activity sheet for labeling the endocrine glands.
• Kidz search encyclopedia: Endocrine system facts: Includes educational information on the endocrine glands, the hormones they secrete, and where they are located.
• Hands-on activity: Endocrine excitement: Activity plan for teachers. This game teaches students about the hormone-receptor interactions within the endocrine system.

Integumentary system

The integumentary system consists of the skin, sweat and oil glands, nails, and hair. Skin is the largest organ in the body and is made up of three layers: the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. This system performs several functions that are vital to maintaining homeostasis. These functions are: protecting the body’s internal organs and tissues; protection from dehydration by helping to retain body fluids; protection from infectious organisms; maintaining a body temperature that is consistent with life; receptor site for pressure, sensation, pain, and temperature; excretion of waste materials through sweating; storing fat, water, and glucose; production of vitamin D. Hair is responsible for helping to protect the skin from ultraviolet radiation, while nails help to protect from injury and provide support for the tips of the fingers and toes.

• Physiopedia: Integumentary system: Provides general information about this system including the structure of the skin and the different layers. An educational video about the integumentary functions and anatomy is also included.
• Kids health: Your skin: Educational information about each layer of the skin in an easy to understand format.
• What’s covering you? And why?: Lesson plan for teachers that encourages learning about the four functions of the skin.
• Diagram of the human integumentary system: Infographic diagram on the human integumentary system. Also contains basic information about this system.

Urinary/excretory system

The urinary system is made up of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The kidneys filter and remove extra fluid, toxins, and waste from the bloodstream in the form of urine. Every day this system produces at least 1 to 2 quarts of urine. Other primary functions of the urinary system are maintaining the body’s relative state of homeostasis by keeping the levels of electrolytes in balance, producing hormones that regulate blood pressure, producing red blood cells, and helping to keep bones healthy by maintaining the right amounts of phosphorus and calcium within the body.

• The urinary tract and how it works: Educational information from the NIH about this system and its functions.
• Anatomy of the urinary system: Provides anatomical information about each organ within the system.
• Kids health: Your urinary system: Provides information about this system to kids in an easy to understand format.
• How the urinary system works: Educational and funny video for children about the urinary system and how it works.
• It may be yucky, but someone has to teach it…: Teacher’s lesson plan and activity on the excretory system geared toward elementary school students.

Lymphatic system

The lymphatic system consists of the lymphatic vessels, tonsils, adenoids, spleen, and thymus gland. Lymphatic vessels are similar to the circulatory system’s capillaries and veins and are connected to hundreds of lymph nodes within the body. Lymph nodes produce and store the cells that fight infection and disease. Tonsils take in bacteria and viruses that enter through the mouth and nose and are considered the first line of defense for the immune system. The spleen is the largest lymphatic organ and is responsible for producing both red and white blood cells and helps to detect dangerous microorganisms, viruses, and bacteria within the blood. As part of the immune system, the primary function of the lymphatic system is to transport a clear and colorless infection-fighting fluid called lymph, which contains white blood cells, throughout the body via the lymphatic vessels. Other functions of this system are absorbing fats and fat-soluble vitamins from the digestive system and transporting them into the bloodstream, restoring excess proteins and interstitial fluids to the blood, and helping to rid the body of toxic byproducts.

• Your immune system: Information from the CDC about each organ in the lymphatic system, where it is found, and what they produce.
• Teens health: Spleen and lymphatic system: Provides information about the basic anatomy of the lymphatic system, how it works, and disease conditions associated with this system.
• Lymphatic system: Crash coourse: Educational and funny video about the lymphatic system. Provides a transcript of the video for the hearing impaired.
• Immune system defender: Fun interactive and educational online game for children.

Reproductive system

The reproductive system in men consists of the penis, scrotum, and testicles, and in women it consists of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina, breasts, and mammary glands. Together there are four main functions of the reproductive system: the production of hormones such as testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen; the production of egg and sperm cells; the sustenance and transportation of these cells; and the development and nurturing of offspring. This system is vital to the survival of the human species by creating new life.

• Reproductive system organs: Overview of descriptions and functions of the male and female reproductive organs.
• Teen health: Male reproductive system: Provides educational information for teen boys about the male reproductive system in an easy to understand format.
• Teen health: Female reproductive system: Provides educational information for teen girls about the female reproductive system.

See also our heart anatomy chart for specific information on the heart. Check our 100% online and accredited ACLS course for getting certified.

Male reproductive system | Articles MC “Diagnostics

20 November 2015

The structure of the male reproductive organs.

Male genital organs are anatomically subdivided into external ones – the penis (penis) with the urethra (urethra masculina), and the scrotum (scrotum), and internal – the testicles (testicle), epididymis (epididymis), the spermatic cord (funiculus spermaticus) , vas deferens (vasa deferentia) and ejaculatory (ductus ejaculatorius) ducts, bulbourethral glands (glanciuia bulbourethralis), seminal vesicles (seminal vesicle), prostate gland (prostata).

Penis (penis, phallus) – the external genital organ of a man, which serves for sexual intercourse, delivery of sperm (ejaculate) into the woman’s vagina, as well as the removal of urine from the bladder.

Distinguish between root (base), body (trunk) and glans penis. The trunk is formed by two cavernous and spongy bodies containing a large number of depressions (lacunae) that are easily filled with blood.

The spongy body at the end of the penis ends in a cone-shaped thickening – the head of the penis.The edge of the head, covering the ends of the cavernous bodies, grows together with them, forming a thickening (corolla) around the circumference, behind which the coronal groove is located. The head is covered with thin, delicate skin (foreskin) with a large number of glands that produce smegma.

The glans penis has a large number of nerve endings, which makes it the most sensitive to touch. The shaft of the penis is also highly sensitive, especially its lower zone in the region of 2-3 cm from the head.Stimulating the penis leads to increased erection.

There is an opening on the top of the head – this is the exit of the urethra, through which both urination and the release of semen are carried out.

The appearance of the penis, like other parts of the human body, is very individual. A straight penis is rare, often the penis in a calm state seems to be straight, but with an erection it bends.

The dimensions of the penis of an adult man on average at rest are 5-10 cm, in an erection state – 14-16 cm, that is, approximately correspond to the size of a woman’s vagina.Often, with an erection, the short penis proportionally increases more than the long one. The shape of the penis during erection and the angle of inclination are individual. An erect penis with a length of 16-18 cm is considered large, and 18-20 cm or more – giant. The diameter of such a penis, as a rule, does not exceed 3-4 cm.

The average length of the penis at birth is from 2.4 to 5.5 cm, at the beginning of puberty – 6 cm subsequent years, up to 17 years, the penis grows actively, up to 25 years – slightly.

With sexual arousal, the penis increases in volume by 2-8 times, while becoming quite dense. The maintenance of an erection is provided by a decrease in venous outflow, which is facilitated by the contraction of special muscles that are located at the root of the penis. At the end of the excitement, the muscles relax and the blood filling the penis easily flows out, after which it decreases to its usual size and becomes soft. The head of the penis during erection always remains less elastic and more elastic than its body, which prevents trauma to the female genital organs.

In the anterior part of the body of the penis, the skin forms a fold of skin – the foreskin, which completely or partially covers the head. The foreskin, if it completely covers the glans, usually slides back easily, exposing it. On the back of the penis, the foreskin is connected to the head by a longitudinal fold called the frenum. Between the head of the penis and the foreskin there is a slit-like (preputial) cavity, which is finally formed by the age of two.

Smegma usually accumulates in the preputial sac. With age, hair follicles become noticeable on the skin of the penis body, and in the future, a small amount of hair. Sometimes hair follicles with enlarged sebaceous glands are perceived by teenagers as “pimples”.

Smegma (preputial lubrication) – the secret of the glands of the foreskin, accumulating under its inner leaflet and in the coronal groove of the penis. The main components are fats and mycobacteria. Fresh discharge is white and evenly distributed on the surface of the head; after a while, they acquire a yellowish or greenish tint.Smegma plays the role of a lubricant that covers the head and reduces friction on the foreskin. Smegma formation increases during the period of greatest sexual activity (18-25 years old) and is practically absent in old age.

Prolonged stagnation of smegma in the preputial sac with phimosis, violations of personal hygiene rules contributes to the development of inflammatory and precancerous diseases of the penis. In order to prevent it, it is necessary to prevent stagnation of smegma, starting from early childhood, to observe the rules of hygiene of the male genital organs.Smegma, like other substances that serve as a lubricant, should be removed daily.

Daily thorough cleaning is an absolute must. This rule also applies to men who have undergone circumcision – in them smegma can accumulate in the folds of the frenum, if it is preserved, and the coronal groove.

Usually adolescents have troubles from accumulated smegma if they neglect the rules of hygiene. They call smegma “putty” and remove it with dirty hands when it hardens.

In adolescence, it is the non-observance of hygiene rules that is the most common cause of infectious diseases of the genital organs. With proper care, smegma does not pose a health hazard.

Sperm (seminal fluid, ejaculate) – a mixture of secretion products of male genital organs secreted during ejaculation: testicles and their appendages, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, urethra. Sperm is composed of two separate parts: seminal plasma – mainly formed from the secretion of the prostate gland, secretions of the testicles, their appendages and ducts of the sperm gland, and from the formed elements (spermatozoa or primary germ cells of the testicles).

Seminal vesicle fluid (65%), prostate fluid (30%), sperm (5%).

The sperm of an adult male is a sticky-viscous mucus-like inhomogeneous and opaque liquid with a characteristic odor. The taste of semen, as well as the smell, is determined by the nature of the diet and is usually slightly sweet-salty with a sour or bitter aftertaste. With frequent ejaculations, the semen becomes less sweet and the taste of bitterness increases. Within 20-30 seconds, the sperm liquefies, becomes homogeneous, viscous and has an opaque whitish-gray color.Its amount is individual and can range from 1-2 to 10 ml or more. Sperm count can fluctuate depending on age, health status, the amount of fluid you drink, the frequency of ejaculation, and so on. The more often sexual or masturbatory acts are performed, the less the volume of each subsequent portion of ejaculate. A large semen volume does not mean a higher fertilizing capacity. The average semen volume, assuming ejaculation occurs at intervals of 3 days, is 3 to 5 ml.

The fertilizing capacity of sperm is characterized by the number of spermatozoa in 1 ml of perm, which is normally 60-120 million.Motile sperm should be at least 70% of their total number, the lower limit of the norm (according to WHO) is considered to be at least 20 million sperm in 1 ml (spermogram).

The scrotum is a musculocutaneous organ, in the cavity of which the testes, epididymis and the initial section of the spermatic cord are located, separated by a septum, which corresponds to the outside of the embryonic suture.The seam can be clearly visible or, conversely, almost invisible. This does not affect health in any way. The skin of the scrotum is pigmented, covered with sparse hair, contains a large number of sweat and sebaceous glands, the secret of which has a specific odor. Placing the testicles in the scrotum creates a temperature lower for them than inside the body. The optimum temperature is considered to be 34-34.5 ° C. The temperature is kept approximately constant due to the fact that the scrotum sinks lower in warm conditions and is pulled up to the body in cold conditions.The scrotum is also the male sexual sense organ (erogenous zone).

Internal genital organs.

Testicles (testes, testicles) – a paired male sex gland, the main function of which is the formation of sperm and the release of male sex hormones (testosterone) into the bloodstream. The testicles are located inside the scrotum and are usually located at different levels (usually the left one below the right), they can also differ in size. The dimensions of each testicle are 4-6 cm long and 2.5-3.5 cm wide.

Testicles require special attention to comply with the rules of hygiene of the male genital organs. Testicular temperature should be 4 degrees lower than body temperature, as too high a temperature interferes with sperm production. Even a one-time immersion of the testicles in hot water can disrupt fertility for the next six months. Sedentary men should get up and walk from time to time so that the testicles move away from the hot body.

The vas deferens (vas deferens) are the ducts that carry sperm out of the testicles.They are a continuation of the canal of the epididymis, pass through the inguinal canal, then, connecting with each other, form a single ejaculatory duct, which passes through the prostate gland and opens with an opening in the back of the urethra. The advancement of sperm along the vas deferens is carried out by their wave-like contraction, at the time of orgasm, sperm through the common vas deferens into the urethra, and from it out or into the vagina.

The spermatic cord is a paired anatomical organ extending from the epididymis to the place of confluence with the duct of the seminal vesicle.Its main functions are blood supply to the testicle and the excretion of semen from the epididymis to the vas deferens.

The prostate gland (prostate) is an unpaired organ of the male reproductive system that produces a secret that is part of the sperm, which is located between the bladder and the rectum. The urethra passes through the prostate gland.

The size of the prostate depends on age, the full development of iron reaches 17 years. Outside, the prostate is covered with a capsule of dense connective tissue.The glandular tissue consists of glands that open into the prostate part of the urethra by excretory ducts. Elimination of secretions from the prostatic glands is facilitated by the contraction of the smooth muscles of the gland. Massive secretion is observed during ejaculation.

The secret of the prostate (prostatic juice) is a cloudy white liquid, which is involved in the dilution of sperm, activates the movement of sperm. The prostate gland ensures the movement of sperm along the vas deferens and ejaculation, participates in the formation of libido and orgasm.

The seminal vesicles are paired glandular formations that produce a secret that is part of the sperm. Its contents consist of a viscous protein liquid with a high content of fructose, which is a source of energy for sperm and gives them great resistance.

90,000 MRI in Podolsk. Prices for magnetic resonance imaging in the center of Tomograd

MRI of the head and departments
MRI of the brain (overview)	4500	4300
MRI of the brain for epilepsy	5700	5500
MRI of the brain for dementia	5700	5500
MRI of the brain in neurovascular conflict	5700	5500
MRI of the pituitary gland of the brain	4300	4100
MRI brain + pituitary gland	5700	5500
MRI of the paranasal sinuses	3700	3500
MRI brain + paranasal sinuses	5500	5300
MRI brain + eye orbits	5500	5300
MRI brain + ear canals	5500	5300
MR-angiography of cerebral veins	3100	2900
MRI of the brain + angiography of the veins of the brain (venography)	5700	5500
MR-angiography of cerebral arteries	3100	2900
MRI of the brain and angiography of the arteries	5700	5500
MR-angiography of veins and arteries of the brain	5700	5500
MRI of the brain and angiography of veins and arteries	6500	6300
MRI salivary glands	4300	4000
MRI of salivary glands + sialography (duct patency)	5500	5300
MRI of the spine and departments
MRI of the cervical spine	4500	4300
MR angiography of the arteries of the neck	3100	2900
MRI of the cervical spine + angiography of the arteries of the neck	5700	5500
MRI of the thoracic spine	4500	4300
MRI of the lumbosacral spine	4500	4300
MRI coccyx	4500	4300
MRI of the sacroiliac joints	4500	4300
MRI of joints
MRI of the knee joint (1 joint)	4900	4700
MRI ankle joint (1 joint)	4900	4700
MRI of the shoulder joint (1 joint)	4900	4700
MRI of the elbow joint (1 joint)	4900	4700
MRI wrist joint (1 joint)	4900	4700
MRI of the hip joints (pair)	4900	4700
MRI of internal organs
MRI of abdominal organs (liver, pancreas, spleen, biliary tract)	6300	6100
MRI of the abdominal organs (liver, pancreas, spleen, biliary tract) + cholangiography (image of the bile ducts)	6900	6700
MRI of the abdominal and retroperitoneal organs (liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, adrenal glands, biliary tract)	7500	7300
MRI of kidneys, adrenal glands	4800	4600
MRI of the kidneys, adrenal glands + angiography of the renal arteries	5500	5300
Cholangiography (image of the bile ducts)	4500	4300
MRI of the female pelvic organs (uterus, appendages, bladder)	5800	5600
MRI of the male pelvic organs (bladder, prostate)	5800	5600
MRI of male genital organs (penis, scrotum)	4800	4600
MRI soft tissue – one area (arm, leg, buttocks, neck)	5500	5300
Complex programs
MRI of the entire spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbosacral)	9900	9900
MRI of the Central nervous system (CNS) – brain, veins and arteries, cervical and neck arteries, thoracic, lumbosacral	17000	17000
MRI of the abdominal cavity and small pelvis – liver, pancreas, spleen, biliary tract + cholangiography, uterus, appendages, prostate gland, bladder + non-contrast urography)	9400	9400
MRI of the urinary tract (kidneys, adrenal glands, ureter, bladder)	5900	5900
MRI of the urinary tract (kidneys, adrenal glands, ureter, bladder + non-contrast urography)	6400	6400
MRI of the male pelvis and external genital organs (bladder, prostate gland, external genitalia)	7800	7800
Additional services
Contrast Omniscan	4100
Additional study print on film (1 sheet)	300
Additional recording of test results on CD	200

Analysis of microbial markers by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Determination of the microecological status of a person and his deviations from the norm, during which the identification (clarification) of the etiology of infectious and inflammatory processes in any disease is carried out.Refers to a new direction in microbiological research – the diagnosis of infection, dysbiosis and inflammatory processes by specific microbial chemical substances – markers. The study is universal in relation to different groups of microorganisms: not only bacteria, but also microscopic fungi and viruses, including anaerobic microorganisms, which make up the main microbial array (up to 60% or more).

Synonyms Russian

Human microecological status, human microbiome, human microecology.

Research method

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-KhMS).

Which biomaterial can be used for research?

Biopsy, venous blood, feces, capillary blood, throat (oropharyngeal) swab, skin swab, conjunctival swab, nasopharyngeal swab, urethral swab, cervical swab, sputum, nails, vaginal discharge, wounds, secret of the prostate, saliva, the first portion of the morning urine, the middle portion of the morning urine.

For the study of the kidneys and bladder, an average portion of urine is required, for the study of inflammatory processes of the urethra – the first portion of morning urine.

How to properly prepare for the study?

• Eliminate alcohol from the diet within 24 hours before the study.
• Avoid (in consultation with your doctor) taking diuretics within 48 hours before urine collection.
• Eliminate the intake of laxatives, the introduction of rectal suppositories, oils, limit (in agreement with the doctor) the intake of medications that affect intestinal motility (belladonna, pilocarpine, etc.), and drugs that affect the color of feces (iron, bismuth, barium sulfate), within 72 hours before collecting feces.

General information about the study

The microecological status of a person is a necessary condition for the stable functioning of all his organs and systems. Normal microbiota is essentially a collection of microbial communities of loci characterized by a specific composition and colonizing the skin and mucous membranes. This is the primary nonspecific barrier preceding the activation of nonspecific and specific factors of protection of the macroorganism.It covers the intestinal wall, mucous membranes and human skin, numbering about one hundred billion cells of microorganisms. The microbiota acts as a mirror indicator of the physiological state of the body, depending on the impact on it of various factors. Therefore, control is so important – and the restoration of microbiocenosis, if it turns out to be disturbed.

Human microbiota is concentrated mainly in the intestines. The known information about the nature of intestinal microbiocenosis is sufficient for understanding its functioning as a physiologically active human organ.However, in pathologies associated with dysbiosis, they alone are not enough – in such cases, it is necessary to quantify and control changes in the composition of microorganisms. The lack of balance in their products is associated with pathological manifestations of a very different nature: intestinal disorders, skin diseases, sexual dysfunction, heart failure, etc.

The study refers to a new direction in microbiology – the diagnosis of infection, dysbiosis and inflammatory processes by specific microbial chemicals (markers).These substances are contained in the cell walls of microorganisms or are produced by them in the process of life. The markers differ in chemical structure from the substance of human cells. In this case, we are talking about a variety of fatty acids, which in humans are slightly more than 20 types, and in microbes – more than 200. Therefore, it is possible to determine the presence of microbes in the human body, if there is a sufficiently sensitive analysis method. This method is gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) – it can be used to accurately determine the chemical nature of a substance by its mass spectrum.Modern computer software in conjunction with the developed techniques makes it possible to quickly and reliably determine small proportions of substances of microbial origin in any biological fluids of a person. The study is used to identify infectious agents of inflammation and to assess dysbiosis of various localizations. The essence of the study consists in the direct extraction of higher fatty acids from a biomaterial sample, their separation on a chromatograph in a high-resolution capillary column and analysis of the composition on a mass spectrometer.Based on these measurements, the composition of the microbiota is deciphered.

Application of this method to study human microecology provides a qualitatively new version of microbiological research due to the possibility of simultaneous quantitative determination of a large number of microbial markers directly in biological samples without preliminary cultivation of microorganisms and the use of biochemical test materials and genetic primers. Receiving in real time extended information about anaerobes and difficult-to-cultivate aerobes, as well as actinobacteria, viruses, yeast and microscopic fungi from one sample provides a complete picture of the microbial etiology of the disease.Quantitative measurements allow studying the dynamics of changes in the microbiota during therapeutic measures, including the effect of antibiotics and probiotics on the intestinal parietal microbiota.

During the study, more than 56 microorganisms are determined simultaneously in one analysis; at the same time, a quantitative express method for diagnosing dysbacteriosis and determining the causative agents of infection is used. The analysis is universal in relation to different groups of microorganisms: bacteria, fungi, viruses. The sensitivity is 10 ⁴ -10 ⁵ cells in the sample; selectivity – up to species in the presence of a marker.The analysis is carried out directly in the material without sowing microflora and does not require biological and biochemical test materials – culture media, enzymes, primers, etc.

When is the study scheduled?

• When determining the microecological status of an organism and its deviations;
• when identifying or clarifying the etiology of an infectious and inflammatory process in any nosological forms of diseases in clinical practice:
  • ICU: sepsis, purulent-inflammatory foci, fever of unknown etiology, meningitis, bacteriuria, multiple organ failure;
  • surgery: infection due to surgery, kidney and liver abscesses, inflammatory processes of the respiratory organs, inflammation of the internal genital organs, burn infection, gangrene, peritonitis, synovitis;
  • gynecology: chronic vaginitis, cystitis, inflammation of the uterus and appendages, candidiasis;
  • urology and andrology: pyelonephritis, bullous cystitis, urethritis, prostatitis, orchitis, gonorrhea;
  • reproductive medicine: male and female infertility associated with genital infections, miscarriage, infertility, chronic inflammatory diseases;
  • gastroenterology: irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, dysbiosis, diarrhea, constipation, Crohn’s disease;
  • pulmonology: cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, pleurisy, fever of unknown origin;
  • ENT: sinusitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, otitis media;
  • hepatology: ascites, dysbiosis, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis;
  • Dermatovenereology: acne, atopic eczema, seborrhea, onychomycosis, psoriasis, dermatitis of unknown etiology, syphilis.

What do the results mean?

The result of the study is issued in the form of a list of microorganisms under study, permissible values ​​of the norm and deviations from the norm, as well as a diagram in comparison with the norm.

+ Attached is a conclusion in the form of background information on the results of the analysis.

There are no reference values ​​for biomaterials in feces, urine, prostate secretions and urethral smears.

Download an example of the result

Important notes

• The study can be used in the assessment of reproductive status, in the treatment of infertility and other serious diseases.

Who orders the study?

Gynecologist, urologist, surgeon, gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist, pulmonologist, otolaryngologist, resuscitation specialist.

Also recommended

[10-038] Sowing of aerobic and facultative anaerobic flora with determination of sensitivity to an expanded list of antibiotics and selection of the minimum effective dosage of the drug

[10-008] Intestinal dysbacteriosis with determination of sensitivity to antibiotics

[10-049] Sowing on flora with determination of sensitivity to antibiotics and bacteriophages

City Clinical Hospital No. 31 – Prostatitis

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of both acute and chronic prostatitis is rarely difficult for a urologist.First of all, after questioning and general examination, the doctor conducts a digital rectal examination of the prostate gland and taking the secretion of the prostate. This is an unpleasant, and with a pronounced inflammatory process, quite painful, but, unfortunately, an absolutely necessary and irreplaceable procedure. Another diagnostic measure for prostatitis is transrectal sound examination.

Before starting treatment, it is absolutely necessary to do a culture of urine and prostate secretions in the laboratory to determine the sensitivity of the flora to various antibacterial drugs.Without this, the treatment will not be effective, and will not lead to getting rid of the disease, but to its transition to a new, more severe form.

Prostatitis treatment

Prostatitis is a disease so complex that its treatment is a big problem for doctors all over the world. However, this does not mean at all that the doctor cannot help a patient with prostatitis in any way, and there is no point in going to him. It is not always possible to completely cure a patient from prostatitis, but modern medicine is able to eliminate the symptoms of the disease and cause a stable long-term remission.And there, the duration of this period will depend on the patient himself. If he strictly and carefully follows all the doctor’s recommendations, it is very likely that unpleasant and annoying symptoms will disappear for life.

However, for this, the treatment of prostatitis must be comprehensive and well-chosen. For treatment, measures such as antibiotic therapy, prostate massage, physiotherapy, immunocorrective therapy and lifestyle correction are used.Only a complex of these measures can lead to the desired effect. The treatment of the disease is so difficult that one cannot afford to neglect any of the described methods of treatment. Let’s dwell on each of them separately.

Antibiotic therapy

The use of antibacterial drugs for prostatitis is necessary because it is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic bacteria. The drug for antibiotic therapy must necessarily be selected correctly after appropriate diagnostics, as already mentioned above.The most optimal antibiotics to use are from the group of fluoroquinolones, since they accumulate in the secretion of the prostate gland in the highest concentration.

In addition, we must not forget about the general rules for antibiotic therapy. If it is started, in no case should you interrupt or pause it. If this happens, the diagnosis and treatment will have to be carried out again after a certain time. If, after three days of using the antibiotic, there is no visible improvement in the course of the disease, the drug must necessarily be replaced with another (in no case canceled).You should not use an antibiotic of the same group with a drug that you have recently used to treat any other disease. Before starting treatment, be sure to consult with your doctor on all these issues.

Physiotherapy for prostatitis can be used in a variety of ways, but in any case, its action is aimed at increasing blood circulation in the pelvic organs, which increases the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy. For physiotherapy, electromagnetic oscillations, ultrasonic waves, laser action, or simply an increase in the temperature in the rectum can be used.If it is not possible to carry out physiotherapy, sometimes you can limit yourself to microclysters of various drugs and warm water.

Immunocorrection for prostatitis is often absolutely necessary, since a long course of the inflammatory process and often one or two incorrectly performed antibacterial therapies in the past cannot but have a negative effect on the state of the immune system. In addition, the treatment of prostatitis is not only to rid the gland of infection and inflammation, but also to prevent the development of inflammation in it again.To conduct a full-fledged antibiotic therapy, it is not enough just to ask the pharmacy “what do you have to increase immunity?”. Most often, for the full treatment of chronic prostatitis, it is necessary to consult an immunologist and conduct a number of special tests.

Normalization of lifestyle is also necessary for both treatment and prevention of prostatitis – after all, if you leave the factors predisposing to the disease unchanged, sooner or later it will reappear.Therefore, it is necessary to make rational changes in your life – playing sports, walking, proper sleep and wakefulness, good and adequate nutrition are a guarantee that this unpleasant disease will leave you in your memory only unpleasant memories.

Inflammation of the prostate is a disease that is much easier to avoid than to cure. Currently, prostatitis has become a multidisciplinary problem when it comes to chronic pelvic pain syndrome.Given the prevalence of the disease, the often latent nature of the clinical picture and consequences, chronic prostatitis is a disease that requires treatment without fail.

Create Venn Diagram

You can change the colors of the Venn diagram to quickly color your SmartArt graphic as a designer. You can also add effects like glow, anti-aliasing or volumetric effects.

Color combinations based on Theme Colors can be applied to circles in SmartArt graphics.

Click the SmartArt graphic you want to color change.

1. In the SmartArt Tools section , on the tab of the designer, in the SmartArt Styles group, click Change Colors .

   If SmartArt Tools tab or does not appear in the designer, select the SmartArt graphic.

Tip: (TIP) If you hover over a thumbnail, you can see how the colors of your SmartArt graphic change.

Change the line color or border style of a circle

1. In the SmartArt graphic, right-click the border of the circle you want to change and select Format Shape .

2. In the Format Shape dialog box, do the following:

   • To change the color of the circle border, in the left pane, click Line Color, in the Line Color area, click Color, and select the color you want.

   • To change the line type of the circle border, in the left pane, under Line Style, select Line Style, and then select the styles you want.

Changing the background color of a circle in a Venn diagram

Click the SmartArt graphic you want to edit.

1. Right-click the circle border and select Format Shape .

2. In the Format Shape dialog box, in the left pane, click the Fill button, and then in the Fill area, select solid fill .

3. Press button Color and select the desired color.

   • To select a background color that is not included in Theme Colors, click Other Colors , and then click the desired color in the tab Normal , or create your own color in the tab Spectrum.Custom colors and colors on tab Normal are not updated when the document theme is subsequently changed.

   • To increase the transparency of the shapes in the chart, move the Transparency slider or enter a number in the box next to it. The transparency value can be changed from 0 (full opacity, the default) to 100% (full transparency).

Table of ideal proportions for men

Ideal man’s body: tables of parameters, beauty standards, proportions

Not only women want to have a reference figure, but also representatives of the stronger sex.It is still not possible to derive a universal formula for the perfect proportions of the body. In different periods of history, the concept of male beauty has been constantly changing.

The article contains the views of prominent representatives of their era, whose works are still relevant today. Formation of modern public preferences, dependent on fashion trends and the influence of the media.

How to determine the ideal proportions of a male body

There is no single formula for determining the ideal proportions of a male body.Questions of the ratio of parts of the body, began to be interested in as early as the days of Antiquity.

One of the first, Pythagoras expressed his idea, formulating the famous rule of the “Golden Section”. The central point of dividing the height of the body is the navel. The ancient Greek mathematician considered the body to be perfect, where the distance from the crown to the waist is 1: 3, relative to the total length of the body.

A number of simple techniques are popular today. The most objective is the scheme of John McCallum.According to the formula of the famous North American trainer, the length of the legs should correspond to the length of the upper part of the body, the chest refers to the size of the pelvis, like 10: 9.

Table №1 Indicators of conformity of the parameters of the figure according to D. McCallum.

The calculation is based on the volume of the chest of a man, the preferred size of which is equal to the girth of the wrist * 6.5.

Body part	Measure from chest circumference
Pelvis	85%
Waist	70%
Hips	53%
Neck	37%
Biceps	36%
Shin	34%
Forearm	29%

Another, no less popular, is the technique proposed by Brock.The author takes the body type as a basis. The body weight of a person is calculated as follows: from the height (in cm) it is required to subtract the number 110. At the same time, for asthenics, it is necessary to subtract 10% from the result obtained, and to hypersthenics, on the contrary, add 10%.

How to measure correctly

Measure body volumes, preferably immediately after waking up. This will provide a more accurate measurement result, since in the morning, the muscles are relaxed and rested.

It is difficult to obtain objective figures in the evening hours.Activity during the day leads to muscle tension and can distort real performance. For measurements, you need a centimeter tape. The correct measurement technique involves a number of nuances.

Table No. 2. Measurement technique

No.	Parameter	How to carry out
1	Neck	The ruler is applied across the neck line, exactly in the middle.
2	Chest	Measurements are taken three times: with even breathing, with inhalation and with exhalation.The approximate measurement line is the nipple area.
3	Shoulders	Biceps and triceps are fixed with the arm bent at the elbow.
4	Forearm	Grips the widest part of the forearm.
5	Waist	The centimeter is located where the ribs end.
6	Hips	The tape must be fixed in a standing position, just below the gluteal region.
7	Shin	The distance of the widest part is taken ..

Ideal body proportions for men

At different periods of time, there were certain ideas about male beauty. Antique canons, reflect the sculpture of Polycletus “Dorifor”, also called “Spear-bearer”. The height of the figure is 178 cm.The parameters of the parts of the body in girth: shin – 42 cm, biceps – 38 cm, buttocks – 108 cm, chest – 119 cm, thigh – 60 cm, forearm – 33 cm, wrist – 19 cm, waist – 93 cm.

Another, no less famous image of masculinity, is the sculpture of the Greek sun god Apollo, created by Leocher, a courtier of A. Macedon. The physique of ancient heroes looks “square”. The body is distinguished by a powerful neck and back, too voluminous bottom.

During the Renaissance, a new type of perfect figure “Vitruvian Man” appeared, created by the great artist and scientist Leonardo Da Vinci. The famous illustration is still used today as a model for the correct symmetry of the body.

Today’s norms largely overlap with the canons of past times. Conditional indicators of compliance of individual sections of the body are built based on the entire length of the body.

Table 3 Typical ratio of male figure parameters

Height	Chest	Neck	Waist	Thigh size	Calf size
170	105	38	76	57	38
180	112	41	81	61	41
190	120	43	86	64	43
200	127	46	91	67	46

The data are modified depending on the age and physiological characteristics of the person.Enhanced transformation of the body falls on a period of 16-25 years.

Ideal proportions in bodybuilding

Professional athletes have their own schemes for calculating ideal volumes. A number of reputable techniques that are used by bodybuilders will stand out.

The most used are the school of the founder of the direction Joe Weider and the system of the famous coach Marcel Rouet.

Table No. 4 Correlation of body parameters according to Wider

Indicators (cm)	Height (cm)
172	177	183	188
Weight	83.5	90.9	95	99
Neck	43	44	45	46
Shoulder	43	44	44.5	46
Chest	118	121.5	124	127
Waist	80	82.5	84	85
Hips	59.5	62	63.5	65
Shin	40.5	41.5	42.5	43.5

Table No. 5 Proportional ratio according to Marcel Rouet

9007 6

Indicators

(cm)

Height (cm) 177 179 183 185 Weight 83 86 92 95 Neck 41 42 44 45 Shoulder 41 42 44 45 Chest 117 119 123 125 Waist 87 89 93 95 Hips 61 62 64 65 Shin 41 42 44 45

Modern Body Beauty Standards

Modern Man Standards, United They contain the features of an ancient warrior, a youth of the Renaissance and representations of a new time.

A typical image of a handsome man, associated with a number of criteria:

• developed V-shaped back, relief muscles of the arms;
• long neck, broad shoulders;
• crisp waist and elastic press;
• narrow hip area;
• muscular legs;
• The upper half of the body and the lower half are of equal length.

Ideal proportions of athletes

Power sports, suggest that the athlete has strength, endurance, and developed muscular structure.

Professional level of physical fitness, does not imply too voluminous mass, as in bodybuilding. The athlete must be of a strong constitution, have a clearly marked and proportional muscular atlas.

Most guys strive to achieve a pumped up athletic figure. Indicative is the large back, with a clearly trapezoidal part, sinewy arms with a prominent shoulder area, elastic abs and strong legs, with pronounced quadriceps and biceps of the thigh.

The standard of beauty for a male model

In the modeling world, there are laws. For a young man to walk on the podium, his height must be at least 182 cm.

At the same time, an overly muscular figure is not welcome. Most of all, young guys with 46-48 sizes of clothes are in demand. Preference is given to fit guys or even slightly skinny ones. Attractive and regular facial features are important.

Ideal male body proportions for women

Girls are attracted to broad-shouldered young people of medium or tall stature, with proportionally developed muscles.However, the requirements for a man’s physique are much more varied than the standards for female beauty.

Details are important:

• strong hands;
• narrow hips;
• embossed torso;
• piercing gaze.

For the fairer sex, male appearance is largely determined by the overall impression and silhouette as a whole. Courageous for women is considered to be an image that instills confidence and a sense of security, regardless of the specific indicators of a particular area of ​​the body.

Ideal parameters of a male figure: height, waist, shoulders

There are no generally accepted criteria for appearance. For different peoples, due to genetic characteristics, the norms of the male body structure will differ. In addition, the indicators of today’s ideal figure and healthy appearance also differ.

Table 6 Parameters of the male physique.

Data	Standard for men in the Russian Federation (cm)	Collective standard (based on world trends) (cm)
Height	178-180	180-185
Waist	95	90
Shoulders	7.5 cm.wider than hips	10 cm wider than hips

Conclusion

There is simply no general formula for calculating the ideal proportions of a male body. Any mathematical calculations or external assessment of the silhouette is just a subjective view, which, as history shows, is subject to frequent changes.

dietonika.com

Ideal proportions of the male body

The ideas of such a beautiful body are very biased and not always objective.Let’s try to find out what criteria determine the perfection of a man’s body.

In search of the ideal

The concepts of the beauty of the body of a man and a woman are absolutely different from each other. The time period is also taken into account, because, for example, medieval ideals are hardly suitable for the modern world, as well as the location.

The notorious Pythagoras, created a rule called the “golden section” used for the human figure. From his point of view, perfection has the following parameters:

• The proportion of the girth of the neck and wrists corresponds to 2: 1.
• The waist is 2 times wider than the neck.
• Equal length of feet and forearms.
• Shoulders in width = 1/4 of the height of the wearer.

Leonardo da Vinci expressed the ideal body in the following proportion:

• The length of the palm corresponds to the length of 4 fingers.
• Feet = 4 palms.
• Elbows = 6 palms.
• Height is measured with four elbows.
• Outstretched arms – determination of height.
• Distance between hair roots and lower part of chin 1/10 height, between crown and chest 1/6, between hair roots and chest 1/7, between crown and nipples 1/4.
• Shoulders with the greatest width 1/8 of the height, arms stretch 1/10.
• Distance between elbows and fingertips 1/5, between armpits and elbows 1/8.
• Feet – 1/7.
• The genitals are located in the middle of the body.
• Distance between the beginning of the genitals, knee caps and toes 1/4.
• Distance between hair roots and eyebrows, nose and lower chin 1/3 of the face, as well as the length of the ears.

In the Middle Ages, a graceful and plastic physique became the standard of male beauty, replacing the sharply declared masculinity and a certain rudeness characteristic of the heroes of antiquity.That is, based on current terminology, men of those times became metrosexual.

Modern view

Based on the above, we can come to the following conclusion: there are no strictly established specific standards of the standard. If you focus on visual assessment, women have always been quite conservative in this matter and found an attractive physique with athletic features: pronounced muscles, broad shoulders, narrow hips, tall stature.

But do not ignore the fact that weight is not a defining condition. Indeed, even in the case when the ideal weight is acquired, but the figure is rather swollen at the same time, there is no question of perfect proportions!

How to achieve ideal parameters?

In an effort to make the body perfect, the first thing to do is to give proper attention to the right food. A healthy diet will help you fight overweight, making your body more attractive.

But the key element in creating a flawless figure is, of course, physical activity.Proper training involves stressing the muscles of the shoulder girdle, chest, abs and buttocks. Particularly careful work should be done on the areas that need correction. The training program should be composed of exercises aimed at eliminating visible problems.

Correct measurement of proportions

To get accurate data from the measurement of parameters, do it in the morning after sleep. The stress the body receives during the day can affect it, distorting the result.

Use a sewing centimeter (available in any sewing supply store) to take measurements.

• Neck Circumference: Head straight, measure the transverse line in the middle.
• Chest circumference: The measurement takes place in three steps. 1 – taking a deep breath, 2 – making a full exhale, 3 – at rest. The centimeter is applied to the chest muscles at the level of the nipples (it is advisable for someone to help, since the hands should be in a free, lowered position).
• Shoulder girth: the arm is bent at the elbow, the measurement is taken at the most voluminous place of the tense biceps and triceps.
• Girth of the forearm: at the most voluminous place of the brachioradialis.
• Waist circumference: Measured at the narrowest part.
• Thigh circumference: under the gluteus muscle.
• Calf circumference: Measured at the largest area of ​​the calf muscle.

Proportion table based on male height

Height	Chest	Neck and biceps	Waist	Hips	Shins (circumference)
Height 150	90	33	66	51	33
Height 160	97	36	71	54	36
Height 170	105	38	77	57	38
Height 180	112	41	81	61	41
Height 190	120	43	86	64	43
Height 200:	127	46	91	67	46
Height 2 10	135	48	96	71	48

love-sports.ru

Bodybuilding: to achieve ideal proportions for the male body

Home> Bodybuilding> Bodybuilding: to achieve ideal proportions for the male body

In different eras, different peoples have radically different beauty standards, this applies not only to women, but also to men. Everyone would like to have an ideal male body. Of course, we can immediately say that in the modern world men value high growth, physical strength and dry muscles that show through the smallest possible layer of subcutaneous fat.

However, everything has its limits, it is probably not difficult to imagine a tall guy who was always teased for his height, despite the fact that he was quite athletic, the overall composition plays a role here. It is the correct proportions that create a beautiful silhouette and add a certain unique color to a person’s gait.

Table of contents:

• The path to an ideal body
• The path to a well-built body Beginner
• A person who has embarked on the path of regular training and proper nutrition
• An athlete with experience
• Modern beauty standards
• Accurate everybody cares
• Height
• Waist
• Age

The path to a perfect body

The path to a well-built body Newbie

To embark on the difficult path of improving your body and putting it in order, you first need to take care of the source material.In this case, the source material means the weight of the man. Of course, all tables of the ideal height / weight ratio are very conditional, but there is no point in trying to somehow purposefully: change proportions, having a flabby, loose body or the complete absence of at least some muscle mass, as if it were the body of a teenager. Even reduced to ideal proportions in centimeters, such a body will not look very aesthetically pleasing.

For a person who has embarked on the path of regular training and proper nutrition

If you have decided the issue of being overweight or being too thin, a mirror and a sewing centimeter should become your best friends.As for the centimeter, you should regularly monitor how many centimeters in volume make up the key links of your figure. Measurements should be taken early in the morning, when you just woke up, your body is back to normal, rested, and your muscles are relaxed. The only exception may be people who, for one reason or another, suffer from swelling in the morning.

It is not necessary to tighten the centimeter until it hurts, but it should not hang either. It also makes no sense (besides having fun) to take measurements after an intense workout, if you are not yet preparing yourself to go to the big bodybuilding stages, where you can hammer your muscles before performing.We will proceed from the assumption that we are all ordinary people and 75% of our time others see us not on the pump.

The mirror will help you to correctly assess the quality of the centimeters being recruited, it will also tell you how well the outgoing centimeters transform you when losing weight. Also, in order to minimize subjective judgments about your own progress, it is recommended to do small photo sessions once a month. Whenever possible, you need to use the same angles and lighting.

For an athlete with experience

The next step already applies to people who have been engaged in some kind of physical activity and work on their bodies for quite a long time.This step is very difficult, but not physically, but morally.

It is necessary to highlight problematic, not tightened areas of your body, lagging muscle groups and concentrate on working them out. In parallel with this, you need to understand what places in your body nature has made strong and prone to rapid development and completely or almost completely stop working on them.

The difficulty lies in the fact that a man sees that nature has given him powerful leg muscles, prone to rapid growth, and he experiences a surge of good mood and pleasant emotions every time he pumps them.It is this pleasure that you need to deprive yourself of, so as not to continue to increase the already overdeveloped areas of your body, increasing the disproportion.

Modern beauty standards

Today it is considered to be beautiful:

• A powerful V-shaped back that forms the entire silhouette.
• Distinct trapeze and shoulders contrasting with the long, slender neck.
• Developed, voluminous chest muscles adjacent to dry, visible abdominal muscles.
• Proportionally developed at the top of the legs, not lagging behind in volume, but at the same time and not distracting all attention to themselves.

Yes, perhaps this is the ideal figure of a man from a movie.

Exact numbers

To create that very V-shaped silhouette, it is believed that the girth of the pelvis and waist should be 10% and 25% less than the chest girth, respectively, and the neck should be only 38% of the chest.

The thigh circumference is equal to 60% of the pelvic circumference. The lower leg, in turn, is only 40% of the pelvic circumference and 60% of the thigh circumference.Another sign of a good build is the equality of the lower leg and tight biceps in volume.

Of course, it is easy and simple to calculate your ideal proportions, but in order to simplify your life and not be mistaken, you can use the table of ideal proportions, as well as a variety of calculators that will suggest your ideal proportions according to different formulas reflecting a different point of view on the male figure.

All you need to use these handy tools is just measuring your height and weight to the nearest centimeter and kilogram and dividing the second value by the first.Thus, you will receive a certain coefficient. For example, with a height of 160 and a weight of 80, this coefficient will be 0.5. But remember, a calculator is not the best solution. The ideal proportion calculator is not always accurate.

Parameters that worries everyone

Height

Of course, usually this parameter does not really care about an adult, mature person, more often it is of interest to teenage boys. It is at an early age that children want to be as high as possible, there is a logical explanation for this. Whether we are aware of this or not, we consider a tall man stronger, more resilient and more dangerous in a conflict situation.Of course, you should not get hung up on your height, the mass of successful men changed the fate of the whole world, being at the same time small in stature, especially since after 25 years it is not possible to correct your height.

1. Small is considered growth below 170 cm, we are talking about the Russian Federation, in particular, about the central region. Of course, for different peoples, the average height may differ slightly.
2. The optimal height is 178-185 cm. It is this height, on the one hand, that is already quite impressive, but on the other hand, with such growth it is not too difficult to keep beautiful proportions.
3. Height above 190 cm is considered very tall. Of course, everyone envied such guys during their school years, but if we are talking about building a beautiful proportional figure, then it is they who will have to work hardest to reveal their growth potential, and not turn it into a disfiguring factor. A large amount of muscle mass needs to be built.

Waist

When it comes to health, the waist rate for men is up to 95 centimeters. But if we talk about beauty and aesthetics and about bodybuilding, with a height of 170 cm and the absence of colossal muscle volumes, it will be extremely undesirable to have a waist of 90 centimeters.There is a rule of thumb: the narrower your waist, the better you will look.

Therefore, you need to be careful not only to overeating, but also to colossal physical exertion and overly fanatical pumping of the press with weights. Even with a wide pelvis, but with a wide chest, an hourglass figure looks good not only for a woman, but also for a man. Popularly referred to as “refrigerators”, even quite strong and powerful men with a flat waist, equal in size to their chest, do not make a special impression from an aesthetic point of view.The proportions of the body in bodybuilding do not differ from the general human.

Age features

The proportions listed above are given for the figure of a man 25-30 years old, this means that a teenage boy (under 20 years old) should take into account everything that was said above, but not be upset if for normal adolescent imbalances, he fails to achieve what he wants.

Men with different body proportions

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Ideal body proportions – MYPROTEIN ™

Man has always strived for perfection and ideal, to become better, to move forward and develop.This applies to all spheres of human activity, be it intellectual abilities or appearance, and we will talk about it in this article.

Over the centuries, the ideal concepts of male and female figures have changed several times, but attempts to measure the human body and calculate its proportions have been made constantly. At all times, a man had the image of a strong, muscular and enduring person, this is eloquently demonstrated by antique statues. Already in those days, athleticism was quite well developed and competitions in physical strength and agility were held.

A bit of history

The first attempts to depict ideal body proportions were made in Ancient Greece by the sculptor Polycletus. The ideals of masculine beauty were embodied in a statue called Dorifor (the Spearman). The proportions of the statue were numerically represented: according to Polycletus, the head was 1/8 of the height, the hand and face were 1/10, and the foot was 1/6. At the same time, the image of Dorifor reflected not only brute masculine strength, but also personified health, energy and grace.

During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci depicted as a drawing of a naked man in two positions, superimposed on one another: with arms and legs spread apart, inscribed in a circle; with arms outstretched and legs brought together, inscribed in a square. In this drawing, the author embodied his ideas about the ideal proportions of a person: the height should be equal to the length of the arms outstretched to the sides, the width of the shoulders is equal to twice the width of the head, etc.

However, the first competition for the beauty of the male body and athletic build was held already in 1901 in England, its founder was Evgeny Sandov, a circus performer who had an excellent figure and amazing strength.In addition, he promoted a healthy lifestyle, became the author of methods for the development of the body and opened a network of salons for physical education. It was this athlete who showed the general public the beauty of the male body and how physical exercises can change the proportions in the required direction, building muscles in the right places. Perhaps this moment can be considered the birth of bodybuilding – bodybuilding.

The idea of ​​building a beautiful body gained popularity much later, already in the post-war period.In 1946, the Weider brothers began to actively promote the idea of ​​a beautiful and muscular body to the masses and founded the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB), and in 1965 they organized the Mr. Olympia competition. The bodybuilding athletes embodied the ideals of Greek sculpture, their symmetry, proportion and muscularity. The athlete had to look lean, without excess fat and a bulging belly, have broad shoulders, a tapered back, a narrow waist and pelvis, and have developed legs.

Calculation of ideal proportions

Joe Weider’s table

For a more accurate estimate of the proportions, several formulas were proposed based on measurements of their own body.For example, Joe Weider offers his own table of ideal proportions. It looks like this:

900 53.8

V / R	Neck	Hands	Forearms	Chest	Waist	Pelvis	Thigh	Shin
0.34	35.6	33.3	27.7	92.5	69.3	83.3	50.0	33.3
0.36	36.8	34.5	28.7	96.3	72.1	86.6	51.8	34.5
0.39	38.1	35.8	30.0	99.8	74.7	89.7	35.8
0.42	39.6	37.1	31.0	103.4	76.2	93.0	55.9	37.1
0.44	40.9	38.4	32.0	106.9	80.3	96.3	57.7	38.4
0.47	42.4	39.9	33.3		82.8	99.6	59.7	39.9
0.50	43.7	41.1	34.3	114.3	85.6	102.9	61.7	41.1
0.53	45.2	42.4	35.3	117.9	88.4	105.9	63.5	42.4
0.57	46	43.9	36.6	121.9	91.4	109.7	65.8	43.9
0.60	47.8	45.2	37.6	125.5	94.2	113.0	67.8	45.2

First you need to divide your weight by height, find the figure in the leftmost column and calculate the ideal proportions for yourself. According to Joe Weider, ideally the proportions of bodybuilders should correspond to this table.

John McCallum’s formula

In addition to Joe Weider’s table, there are other formulas for calculating proportions.For example, John McCallum’s formula, which is based on measuring the circumference of the wrist. It is assumed that the thickness of the wrist is closely related to the size of all human bones. However, sometimes there are people whose lower half of the skeleton is more massive than the upper and vice versa, so the proportions may vary. If the girth of the wrist is multiplied by 6.5, then we get the girth of the chest, from the circumference of which we can calculate the circumference of the rest of the body. Based on this formula, the following patterns emerge:

• The waist circumference is 70% of the chest circumference
• The thigh circumference is 85% of the chest circumference
• One thigh equals 53% of the chest circumference
• The neck will be 37% of the chest
• The circumference arms equal to about 36% of the chest circumference
• The legs will make up 34% of the chest
• The forearm is equal to 29% of the chest

Marcel Rouet’s table

According to Marcel Rouet, we get the following proportion table:

90 084 42

Height	Weight	Hands	Neck	Chest	Waist	Thigh	Shin
165	65	35	35	105	75	55	35 1
166	65.5	35.5	35.5	10 6	76	55.5	35.5
167	68	36	36	107	77	56	36
168	69.5	36.5	36.5	108	78	56.5	36.5
169	71	37	37	109	79	57	37
170	72.5	37.5	37.5	110	80	57.5	37.5
171	74	38	38	111	81	58	38
172	75.5	38.5	38.5	112	82	58.5	38.5 nine 0081
173	77	39	39	113	83	59	39
174	78.5	39.5	39.5	114	84	59.5	39.5
175	80	40	40	115	85	60	40
176	81.5	40.5	40.5	116	86	60.5	40.5
177	83	41	41	117	87	61	41
178	84.5	41.5	41.5	118	88	61.5	41.5
179	86	42	119	89	62	42
180	87.5	42.5	42.5	120	90	62.5	42.5
181	89	43	43	121	91	63	43
182	90.5	43.5	43.5	122	92	63.5	43.5
183	92	44	44	123	93	64	44
184	93, 5	44.5	44.5	124	94	64.5	44.5
185	95	45	45	125	95	65	45

In this case, the calculation is based on the person’s height, and not on their wrist circumference.The waist sizes according to this table of proportions are slightly higher than the others, it can be assumed that Rouet is an adherent of antique proportions.

Note

In all the proportional tables above, the length of the limbs should be proportional to each other. For example, the length of the legs and torso should be the same, it is better that the legs are slightly longer than the torso than vice versa. The arms should also not be too long or too short. The girths of the neck, arms and lower leg should be the same.

All measurements are taken with a flexible measuring tape, usually in the morning on an empty stomach. You should weigh yourself after visiting the restroom, and you need to measure the girths “cold”, that is, without pre-warming up with exercises. The measuring tape should be applied tightly, without sagging, but also without tight contraction.

• The wrist is measured with the hand bent into a fist, just above the bone at its thinnest point.
• When measuring the circumference of the neck, keep the head straight, measure the median transverse line of the neck.
• The forearm is measured with the arm outstretched and in a fist.
• The girth of the arms is measured in a tense state, at the widest point, at the peak of the biceps.
• Chest circumference is measured in a standing position along the nipple line, without tension of the muscles of the chest and back, without deep inhalation or exhalation, arms are freely lowered along the body.
• The waist is measured at the narrowest point, without the abdomen being drawn in.
• The pelvic circumference is measured at the buttocks, at the widest point.
• Thigh circumference is measured with the leg strained just below the buttocks. 7
• The shin is measured while standing in a tensed state, lifting on toes, at its widest point.
• The ankle is measured at its narrowest point, just above the foot.

The measurement locations are shown in the image:

Of course, no one forces you to match all proportionality tables to the millimeter, and this is unrealistic. All people are different, some have a more massive skeleton and a wide waist, while others have the opposite. Despite the difference in physique, you should strive for wide shoulders and a narrow waist with a minimum amount of fat. With the help of physical exercises, you can, like a sculptor, create your body, adding muscles in the right places and removing unnecessary ones.These are the variables that make the figure athletic and bring it closer to the ideal.

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What body proportions are considered ideal for men?

Hello, my dear readers! My next article will be enlightened about the male body, and to be more precise, we will try to figure out whether there are ideal proportions of the male body, and what they are equal to.

We are adults and we understand that the concept of the beauty of the human body in most cases is quite subjective.Here it is necessary to take into account the fact that the requirements for the male and female bodies are fundamentally different.

It is necessary to seriously consider the time range, what was considered a sign of the standard of the male body in the Middle Ages, is unlikely to be so in our time. The geographical aspect is also important, it would be naive to believe that Africa and Europe will converge on this issue on one thing. The purpose of my article is not to impose my opinion on you, but to try to comprehensively cover this topic.

Background

The famous ancient philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras can be considered the first person seriously interested in the proportions of the human body.It was this Greek who formulated the rule of the “golden ratio”, which could equally be applied to the human body.

If these rules are applied to the human body, then we get the following ideal figure (according to Pythagoras):

• The ratio of the circumference of the neck and wrist should be in the proportion of 2-1.
• But the waist, in turn, should be twice as large as the neck.
• Equal foot and forearm length.
• Shoulder width should be equal to ¼ of human height.

Leonardo da Vinci became seriously interested in the next problem of the human figure. The world famous “Vitruvian Man”, a picture of a naked man, was another attempt to derive a formula for an ideal male body. We have all seen the image of two male bodies imprinted in a circle and a square.

This creation of the famous master was created along with notes that explained the essence of what was happening. It was based on the work of the Roman architect Vitruvius, in which he derived his formula for an ideal body.

In the Middle Ages, the pronounced masculine principle was replaced by a certain grace of the figure. Ideal body features of that time suggested grace and flexibility. If we compare men of that time with ancient heroes, a certain femininity, the absence of so-called brutality, is striking. If we call this phenomenon in modern language, then metrosexuality would be an appropriate epithet.

Modern realities

The first thing to do in order to determine your own ideal proportions is to find out what body type is typical for you.To do this, we rely on three main points: age, height, wrist size.

So, if the volume of your wrist is less than 18 centimeters, you have a thin-boned figure, if this size is in the range from 18 to 20 centimeters – a normal figure, more than 20 centimeters – a broad-boned figure.

Based on this, we come to the following conclusion: there is no definite, rigidly fixed size of the ideal figure. The main thing that you should pay attention to when creating the so-called ideal figure is the observance of the necessary proportions of the body.And now we come to the most important thing, these magic numbers ultimately constitute the necessary proportion of the male body that falls under the definition of ideal proportions:

1. The volume of the chest should include 6.5 volume of the wrist
2. The volume of the hips should be equal to 85% of chest volume
3. Shin volume equal to 34% of chest volume
4. Waist equal to 70% of chest volume
5. Biceps – 36% of chest volume
6. Hips volume equal to 53% of chest volume
7. Forearm – 29% of chest volume cells

This formula for the proportionality of the male body was derived by the North American athlete and trainer John McCallum.In essence, this is practically the same “golden ratio”, albeit in a somewhat complicated form, more suitable for our time.

If we take a purely visual perception of a male figure, then here humanity has been largely conservative for a large amount of time. For many centuries, athletic men with a characteristic figure have remained in fashion: tall stature, combined with wide shoulders and a narrow pelvis, has invariably left an indelible impression on women at all times and in all countries and continents.

It is also worth drawing your attention to the fact that weight is not a fundamental factor. Even if you reach the optimal weight, but at the same time your figure remains loose, then there can be no question of any ideal proportions. Try to achieve a harmonious combination of all muscle groups, and your figure will begin to delight not only you, but everyone around you with its appearance.

How to make your body perfectly proportional

The first thing you should pay attention to when trying to create an ideal body is your diet.In this article, I will not dwell in detail on the necessary nutritious diet, the basics of which each of you knows yourself. With the help of a balanced diet, you can remove extra pounds, which will already make your figure more attractive.

The next moment should be the main one on your way to a beautiful figure. These are physical education and sports. Pay close attention to your problem areas. Make up for yourself a set of exercises aimed at correcting the visible imperfections of your figure.Pay particular attention to the abdomen, waist, shoulder girdle and chest muscles.

Pump up your gluteal muscles. The main thing, remember, you are the creator of your own figure, and it depends on you how proportionally your body will look. The ideal proportions of the male body is not a myth, it is a real reality, quite accessible to each of us.

On this I say goodbye to you, my dear readers. Subscribe to blog updates, I look forward to your comments on this and other articles, see you soon!

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 (8 votes)

Sincerely, Vladimir Manerov

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Body proportions: basic parameters, ideal female figure and how to achieve it

Ideal parameters of our body depend not only on the number of muscles, their relief, harmony and growth. Body proportions are key. In this article, we will tell you about modern beauty standards, ideal male and female figures, their classic proportions, as well as give some recommendations and present to your attention some useful tips from experts.

Modern beauty standards: basic parameters

The modern world has its own concepts and ideal body parameters. Each of us at least once in his life thought about whether his characteristics fit these values? Below we present to your attention the classic ideal proportions of the human body in modern fitness and bodybuilding.

Height

People are used to considering this criterion the most important than others, although this is fundamentally wrong. However, in everyday life there is such an opinion that the taller a person is, the stronger, more courageous and more dangerous he is in conflicts.

Standard growth parameters for residents of Russia and the CIS countries:

• people with a height below 170 cm are considered small;
• 175-185cm is considered average and optimal height;
• People taller than 190 cm are considered tall.

It is worth noting that people of different nations and nationalities have different averages, and the above figures will not be considered the norm for them. If you want to get taller, then you need to put a lot of effort into certain workouts to increase height.You also need to know that this parameter cannot be adjusted after 25 years.

The height of each person is individual, based on this, everyone for himself can calculate the ideal proportions of height and weight. There is a way to check this – the Quetelet index.

It is relevant for men and women aged 20 to 60 years. To determine your body proportions and find out their indicator relative to the norm, you need to solve a simple arithmetic equation. But the result may not be correct if you are a professional athlete, a pregnant woman or a young man.

Measure your height, raise it to the second power. After that, the body weight must be divided by the resulting figure. Example: 175 cm, 70 kg; 70: (1.75 * 1.75) = 22.8. The answer in the equation will count as the correct body proportion index.

• male norm – 19.5-25.5;
• female norm – 19.5-24.5;
• mass deficit – up to 18.5;
• excess – 25.5-29.5;
• first degree obesity – 30-35;
• second degree – 35-40;
• third degree – 40+.

Waist

Based on the table of ideal proportions, we present the optimal ratio of waist to height for men and women:

• height 150-155 cm: minimum – 55 cm, maximum – 60 cm;
• 155-160 cm: 60, 65;
• 160-170 cm: 63, 69;
• 170-180 cm: 69, 73.

To determine your waist, measure it with a centimeter where the ribs begin.

Legs

The standard for leg length is considered to be 50-56% of a person’s height, depending on gender.You should take this measurement while standing with your back straight. The circumferences of the ankles, thighs and lower legs should be in proportion to the length of the whole body. For example, the ideal ratio of these body parts with a height of 175-180 cm is 59.38 and 21 cm.

Hips

To find out the volume of your thighs, you need to measure their circumference slightly above the groin.

Standard hip measurements for men and women of different heights:

• height 150-155 cm: 83-90 cm;
• 155-160 cm: 85-100 cm;
• 160-170 cm: 85-106 cm;
• 170-180 cm: 90-110 cm.

Chest

In order to measure the chest, it is necessary to measure the circumference of the pectoral muscles with the arms lowered along the body.

Sizes are considered the average norm for men and women:

• height 150-155 cm: 73-85 cm;
• 155-160 cm: 80-88 cm;
• 160-170 cm: 85-95 cm;
• 170-180 cm: 89-99 cm

We take into account the age

Above were examples for men and women from 25 to 35 years old.With age, the ideal proportions will change, since a person from this moment will already begin to age. The length of the body, arms, legs will decrease over time. In order to slow down the aging process as much as possible, it is necessary to exercise systematically.

If you are unhappy with your height, limb length, then after you work hard on yourself, these indicators can be brought close to ideal. But it is worth considering the fact that after 25 years it will no longer be possible to do this, since the process of growth and development of the body will stop.

The ideal male figure

There are many ways to determine if you have an ideal male figure. After all, the presence of a strong body, ideal legs with developed muscles does not mean anything yet. Consider the basic ratios, proportions and indices of an ideal human figure.

Waist-to-Shoulder Ratio

The ideal shoulder-to-waist ratio for men is the main feature of the reference body.

The beauty standard is the ratio of the forearm to the waist, it should be 0.75.This indicator is the standard and is considered the most attractive for the female sex.

If your waist-to-shoulder ratio falls short of this standard, don’t be upset. Indeed, in modern bodybuilding, there are many training options for obtaining the necessary proportions. For example, if you need to decrease the value obtained, then you need to stick to exercise regimes that will help burn fat calories in these places. In this case, it is necessary to build up the shoulder and back muscles.

Standard values ​​of waist circumference for men with different heights:

• 165-172 cm – 76-80 cm;
• 170-183 cm – 80-83 cm;
• 180-190 cm – 83-86 cm.

Standard values ​​of shoulder girth:

• 165-172 cm – 41-43 cm;
• 172-183 cm – 43-45 cm;
• 180-190 cm – 45-47 cm.

Bust to waist ratio

Ideal male body proportions are considered to be a figure similar to an inverted triangle (V).With this physique, the ribcage stands out, and the waist is narrow.

The difference between the circumference of the chest and waist will help to determine the ideal parameters of a man’s figure. The standard is considered to be a value equal to 25.

According to the observations of scientists, men with such indicators have fairly good health and are less sick.

Standard values ​​of waist circumference for men with different heights:

• 165-172 cm – 76-80 cm;
• 170-183 cm – 80-83 cm;
• 180-190 cm – 83-86 cm.

Standard values ​​for chest girth:

• 165-172 cm – 115-118 cm;
• 172-183 cm – 118-123 cm;
• 180-190 cm – 123-128 cm.

Adonis Index

This method of calculating the ideal proportions of a man’s body was developed by the ancient Greeks.

The Adonis index is based on the proportions of the “golden section”. The method consists in dividing the whole into two parts, in which the ratio of the larger to the smaller is equal to the ratio of the whole to the larger.The main values ​​for defining the “golden ratio” in human anatomy are shoulder width, waist and overall height. So, the “golden ratio” (ideal parameters of a person) will be considered a waist-to-shoulder ratio of 1: 1.618.

Classic body proportions

Each person has a different proportion of his body.

Taking the average values ​​from the table of proportions of an ideal physique, we present the canons of proportions:

With a height of 165-170 cm:

• weight – from 65 to 72 kg;
• shoulders – from 35 to 37 cm;
• neck – from 35 to 37 cm;
• chest – from 105 to 110 cm;
• waist – from 75 to 80 cm;
• thigh – from 55 to 57 cm;
• drumstick – from 35 to 37 cm.

With a height of 170-175 cm:

• weight – from 72 to 80 kg;
• shoulders – from 37 to 40 cm;
• neck – from 37 to 40 cm;
• chest – from 110 to 115 cm;
• waist – from 80 to 85 cm;
• thigh – from 57 to 37 cm;
• drumstick – from 35 to 40 cm.

With a height of 175-185 cm:

• weight – from 81 to 90 kg;
• shoulders – from 40 to 45 cm;
• neck – from 40 to 45 cm;
• chest – from 115 to 125 cm;
• waist – from 85 to 95 cm;
• thigh – from 60 to 65 cm;
• drumstick – 40 to 45 cm.

Proportions according to da Vinci

The great scientist Leonardo da Vinci created his own proportions for the ideal figure of a man and a woman.

According to da Vinci, the ideal proportions of the male body should correspond to the following parameters:

• height – 24 palms;
• feet length – 4 palms;
• elbow length – 6 palms;
• arm length and shoulder volume – 1.6 of the total height;
• the length of one ear is 0.33 times the length of the head;
• distance from the chin to the beginning of the hair on the forehead – 0.1 of total height;
• distance from chin to crown – 0.125 of total height;
• distance from hair to eyebrows – 0.33 of the total length of the face;
• The distance from the armpits to the elbow is 0.125 from height.

Bodybuilding Standards

Professional bodybuilders are now the benchmark for the male body. They have acquired ideal body parameters after long and hard training on themselves.

Ideal proportions in bodybuilding are:

• clear trapezoid lines;
• relief muscles;
• Tapered pectoral muscles;
• well-defined back muscles;
• slender neck;
• Developed muscles of the lower extremities.

Also an integral part is a strong physique, which can be calculated using the Pignet index.

Pinier Index = Height (cm) – Weight (kg) – Chest (cm).

Based on the results, the body type is determined:

• less than 10 – strong;
• 10-20 – normal;
• 21-25 – medium
• 26-35 – weak;
• more than 36 – very weak.

Video “What should be an ideal figure”

Ideal female figure

Every girl wants to be beautiful and puts a lot of effort into it.In the world of fitness and fashion, there are ideal proportions of the female body (legs, waist, chest, hips, etc.).

The main types of female physique

There are five types of female physique:

Triangle. The characteristic features of this body in women are:

• volumetric thighs;
• narrow shoulders;
• small waist;
• The upper part of the body is longer than the lower one.

V-type:

• the volume of the hips is less than the volume of the shoulders;
• the upper part of the body is shorter than the lower one;
• not pronounced waist.

Rectangle:

• approximately equal width of body parts;
• not pronounced waist;
• protruding belly;
• with low weight, strong muscle relief.

Figure eight. The classic type, which is in demand in the modeling business (body proportions 90/60/90):

• the lower part of the body is proportional to the upper one;
• narrow waist;
• waist-to-hip ratio 0.7.

Circle:

• pronounced chest;
• thin legs;
• small shoulder volume;
• waist

Classic proportions for women

Ideal body proportions for women were developed by D.A. Konokhin.

According to his calculations, one centimeter of the total body length accounts for:

• neck – 0.17-0.21 cm;
• shoulder – 0.17-0.21 cm;
• hips – 0.31-0.35 cm;
• chest – 0.45-0.5 cm;
• pelvis – 0.55-0.65 cm;
• waist – 0.36-0.41 cm.

To understand how your body corresponds to ideal shapes, multiply your height (cm) by the above values ​​from the table. Then measure the circumference of the body parts you are interested in.The result will show how close or far you are from the standard.

Slim waist

Each woman’s physique is unique and individual in her own way. The ideal parameters of women differ significantly from the male figure.

Below are the standards for the width of the waist for girls of different heights:

• height 150-155 cm – waist 57-58 cm;
• 155-160 cm – 58-60 cm;
• 160-165 cm – 60-62 cm;
• 165-170 cm – 60-64 cm;
• 170-175 cm – 64-66 cm;
• 175-180 cm – 66-68 cm.

Allowable deviations can be up to five centimeters. Measurements will be accurate if there is no excess body fat around your waist.

Hip to Bust Ratio

In the world of fashion and modeling, the most important parameters for women are hips, bust and waist.

The girth of the forearm should be equal to the volume of the hips. First of all, it looks aesthetically beautiful. If your physique is different, there is no need to be upset.In fitness, there are many specific workouts to fit your hips and chest to the ideal ratio.

Height parameters

There is no concept of ideal height for a woman. After all, each person is individual in itself. Also, in different countries and peoples, the average height may differ.

To determine if you have the ideal ratio of height to other parts of the body, you need to resort to the method of the “golden ratio” (Adonis index), which we wrote about earlier in this article.For example, shoulder width should be 1/7 of your height.

Leg length

The ideal proportions of a girl’s legs depend on whether her bone is thin or wide. Here is an example of ideal proportions of legs to body:

• if the girl has a wide bone, then the legs should be about 1.5-4.5 cm longer than half the length of her full height;
• if the bone is medium, then their length should be 4-7 cm longer;
• thin – 50% height + 6.5-10 cm.

How to achieve ideal parameters

In order to achieve ideal parameters, you should adhere to a specific training regimen, lead an exceptionally healthy lifestyle, systematically measure chest and hips.

It is in these parts of the body that fat accumulates most of all.

Regular training

To achieve the desired result faster, you need to train regularly. On the Internet, there are many tables and techniques for men and women to improve their body and keep it in good shape.Here are the basic rules that you must adhere to while playing sports:

1. Do not overload yourself. Excessive fatigue will not give the desired results, but will only harm your body.
2. Do not train intensely every day. Daily intense sports will not bear fruit, since muscle mass builds up during rest.
3. To increase the volume of the chest, the simplest methods are push-ups, pull-ups on the horizontal bar.
4. To tighten your glutes, do more jogging and squats in the morning.

Know that regular exercise will help you not only gain muscle mass or burn calories, but also strengthen health, immunity, and reduce the risk of developing most diseases.

Proper nutrition

An important criterion for obtaining an ideal body is proper nutrition.

Here are some useful tips:

1. Eat four meals a day, but in small portions.This will reduce the risk of fat storage and improve digestion.
2. Do not eat fatty or fried foods.
3. Eat foods that are rich in protein. It is he who contributes to faster muscle growth after exercise.
4. To maintain waistline in women, eat more “green” and “red” foods.
5. Keep track of your daily calorie intake.
6. Don’t drink soda and try to keep the amount of sugar as low as possible.

Expert advice

To achieve ideal male or female body standards, here are some expert recommendations:

1. Don’t believe false promises.In order to get the desired result, you need to train a lot.
2. Do not use steroids, etc. All drugs of this type have a temporary effect. After you stop taking the course, your skin may sag.
3. Decide what exactly you want to improve in your body. This way you can quickly achieve the desired result.
4. In addition to exercising, follow a sports diet.
5. Join a gym. Classes with a trainer will give results much faster than you will study on your own.
6. Warm up before any workout. If you don’t, chances are high that you might be pulling one or more muscle groups.

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Ideal proportions of the female body

Can you check harmony with algebra? The ideal proportions of the female body excite both the fair sex and those working in the fitness industry, the world of fashion, art and dance, people of both sexes. Scientists are researching this issue, and girls do their best to meet the ideal.What are the proportions that attract the eye? There have been times in human history when big bellies and small breasts were considered ideal. And the era of “heroin chic”, when a thin boyish figure was in trend. Then came the fashion for fitness, and muscular bodies. At all times, an X-shaped figure with a thin waist was considered attractive, but one must understand that beauty is not only in proportions. It is subjective, often elusive, and it is impossible to decompose it into parameters. So proportions are important, but they do not make women beautiful and attractive.

Visual parameters of a beautiful female figure

Do you like the figure of the sculpture of Venus de Milo? If the Greek gods carved in marble today could conquer the beach bodybuilding scene, only slightly adding shoulder width, then Venus in modern times would have rather little chance. A fairly full belly, relatively small breasts, narrow and sloping shoulders, and in general, with such excess weight – only in accountants in the next department, and not in beauties. It must be understood that “dried” female figures became a trend only in the 20th century, and came to us from the catwalks.In Antiquity, the proportions and, so to speak, the general appearance were estimated.

According to the architects, the figure of the sculpture obeys the so-called golden ratio, this is an irrational number that determines the ratio of the waist to the hips. It allows you to find out the proportions. Plastic surgeons use this number of 1.618 … to determine the ratio of “new shapes” to the waist.

Ancient Greek sculptors believed that the parameters of the waist, shoulder girdle, and hips should be correlated according to the golden ratio.This is exactly what is embodied in the sculpture of Venus. Therefore, if you ask honest people, not fashion critics, and not fitness experts who have long deformed their minds to please the industry, Venus will be very much even nothing.

The human eye is believed to track the line of the shoulders, hips, waist, and the curve that connects them. Therefore, working on the outlines, they try to actively concentrate on the transitions, and the smoothness of the lines.

It is generally accepted that there are only five types of female figure:

• The hourglass is a “classic” with a narrow waist, wide shoulders and hips.The ratio of such a figure is close to the golden ratio by nature, and even if its owner gains a little weight, she remains attractive. It is to the shape of an hourglass that people in fitness bikinis gravitate, and ordinary visitors to gyms want such a figure. Unfortunately, a narrow waist for many remains only a dream, but you can visually rebuild the shape of the body if you add volume in the shoulders, buttocks and hips;
• The pear-shaped figure is the ideal of the Renaissance, and the healthiest physique according to a number of doctors.Fat is deposited in the lower half of the body, the shoulders are significantly inferior to the hips in volume, the waist remains narrow, but the shoulder girdle is almost undeveloped. In terms of fitness, such ladies are a little less fortunate, since they have to do several cycles of recruitment and drying in order to balance the top and bottom, usually when trying to lose weight, the thighs still remain full, but the “top” dries out very significantly;
• The Triangle is an athletic figure with broad shoulders and narrow hips. With such a physique, it is much easier to achieve success in sports such as bench press, weightlifting, gymnastics, but for a long time such a figure was considered ugly.The “free bonus” by nature is that against the background of the shoulders, any waist looks narrow, and the owners of such a figure are usually not inclined to body fat;
• The rectangle is an apple-shaped figure, but more athletic. Usually, such women have naturally large breasts, long legs, but there is almost no waist. Fat is deposited in the male pattern, in the abdomen. Moreover, it evenly covers both the abdominal wall and internal organs. Doctors believe that this type of obesity is more dangerous for life and health, so women of this type need to monitor their weight.”Rectangles” tend to be mesomorphic and usually progress well in strength sports.
• Apple – a rather slender physique, narrow shoulders and hips, but at the same time – a larger belly distinguishes representatives of this type of figure. It is difficult for “apples” to lose weight, since even significant efforts do not give the very harmonious form that everyone strives for, and the girls quickly lose motivation.

Female Body Types is a rough list. In reality, they can differ significantly, what a girl looks like strongly depends on height, percentage of fat mass, length of legs, arms, shoulder width, and how she dresses and presents herself.In modern fashion, there is a whole direction that deals with the selection of wardrobe according to the type of figure. And in fitness – tools that allow you to correct any figure. Therefore, you should not be upset about natural data.

Ideal figures of women according to men

It is said that the male perception of the female figure is very different from the female. And certainly far from the ideals that are promoted by the modern gloss, the fitness industry and other sources that tell us that without buttocks with a “shelf”, and wide athletic shoulders, and also breasts of at least 4 sizes, we are ugly.

All sources unanimously claim that the male eye estimates the ratio of the waist and hips, or rather, the absence of fat folds on this very waist. That is, if the smoothness of the lines and the difference between the narrowest and widest parts of the body are present, the girl is ideal. In practice, there are a variety of options. Someone seems attractive “dry”, almost stage form. Someone likes more juicy figures, while others do like soft women with a small tummy.

Scientists keep repeating that sex appeal is associated with health.That is, the ideal girl should not have a high percentage of fat, a huge belly, and too full hips, all of which are associated with ill health. Similarly, the condition of the skin, hair, nails plays an important role. That is why it is believed that personal care and fitness are important components of the image of a successful and attractive woman.

And other sources claim that sexual attractiveness has nothing to do with body parameters, and can be assessed at the level of … odors. An attractive aroma, or the smell of their own pheromones, each has its own, and men literally “love with their nose.”Be that as it may, the absence of unhealthy body fat prolongs life and improves its quality, so it’s not just about sex appeal.

Formulas of ideal proportions of a woman’s body

Man is so constructed that he tries to calculate everything that is inexplicable. Scientists do not get tired of coming up with formulas, criteria, some parameters to describe beauty. And poets and artists simply admire the ideal female bodies at all times. In fact, any science gives in to practice here, because the parameters for assessing the beauty of the body.Some girl’s legs with the same parameter in centimeters will look longer due to the fact that the waist is higher. Someone is slimmer due to the smoothed thigh line. And to some, nature gave a gorgeous posture, unfolded shoulders and an even spine.

Formulas of ideal proportions should be taken as advisory information that you can take into account, but you should not dwell on it. The figure can be perfect if the percentage of fat is adequate, the muscles are developed and the girl looks after herself.

In fitness, they proceed not only from the aesthetic body types, which were discussed above, but also from the so-called physiological ones. They characterize how a woman looks based on her metabolic rate, body fat percentage, and her rate of muscle building.

There are three types of female physiques:

Mesomorph

These are born athletes. If such a girl does not exercise, but simply adheres to the rules of a minimum healthy diet, she looks like a regular at a sports club.She will naturally have an abs, slender legs, good posture and a pronounced waist. Perhaps it will be difficult for her to achieve the grace of model forms, but the trend is leaving them, and no one is particularly worried about this. These girls can prepare for a fitness bikini in six months, and it is about them that they most often think that they are using illegal drugs. But in reality, they can just exercise regularly and follow an athlete’s diet. If the mesomorph is recovering, something really serious has happened, like a prolonged inactivity due to a switch to a career, or pregnancy and childbirth.Mesomorphs lose weight quickly, especially if they are engaged in physical activity. Those who do not exercise are advised to start as soon as possible. The main bonus of the mesomorph is its muscles;

Ectomorph

These are slender, naturally thin girls. In the past, such people did not have any problems at all, because an extremely thin, model female figure was in fashion. Such girls “look like a million” now, but their existence is a little overshadowed by the fact that it is extremely difficult for them to pump up the buttocks, which have become trendy recently.Ectomorph training is heavy weights, a good technique that is extremely difficult to achieve with long limbs, and a constant high-calorie diet. Oddly enough, such girls are afraid to gain weight and lose their natural beauty. That is why they often do not gain anything in the gym – poor nutrition affects athletic performance. But ectomorphs are good in cyclic sports and gymnastics. And they almost never get better if they overuse food, and are quite active by nature.Therefore, in ordinary life, those who are far from fitness consider them to be “witches”. An ectomorph can “kill” its metabolism in only one way – the use of drugs and alcohol, plus lack of sleep. This is what caused the collapse of the great models of the past, and that is why it is better for an ectomorph to lead a healthy lifestyle,

Endomorph

The main sufferers of the modern world. This is a girl who by nature has a large bone, good muscle building data, but also an impressive body fat.As soon as modern culture does not scoff at such girls. However, the endomorphic type is not an obstacle to athleticism. For example, you can look at the photo of Brittany Diamond on the network – the girl is engaged in power extreme sports, is rather large by nature and weighs more than 80 kg, but at the same time she is fit, has a beautiful developed shoulder girdle, pronounced waist and sculpted buttocks. So to justify yourself with a slow metabolism, and the fact that fat sticks faster than muscle, is clearly not worth it. The main task of the endomorph is to establish a regular training regime and nutrition.

Ratio of height and length of legs

This parameter is well known to the modeling business, there are even whole tables for determining beauty depending on the length of the legs. It is generally believed that a beautiful girl should have long legs and a narrow waist.

The table shows the ratio of the height and length of the legs.

Height Leg length

155 to 160 cm	78-83 cm
161 to 167 cm	84-89 cm
168 to 174 cm	90 -94 cm
175 to 180 cm	95-100 cm

Ideal proportions of the chest, waist, hips

theories believe that the ratio is beautiful, in which 60-70% of the volume of the chest and hips is occupied by the waist.

Ideal ratio of weight and height

Height-weight ratio serves not only as an indicator of beauty, but also health. In short, the ideal ratio is when a woman’s weight is minus 105-110 cm. But the last parameter is typical for the modeling business, and the first one can also be harsh if we have an athlete in front of us.

The truth is that bikini athletes weigh in the off-season “height minus 105”, but more muscle categories can weigh more.In the modern world, the height-weight ratio gradually fades into the background, and the percentage of adipose tissue is taken as the parameter.

The table shows the ratio of height and weight for women.

Height in centimeters Weight in kilograms

9 0082

137	28 – 35
140	30 – 37
142	32 – 40
145	35 – 43
147	37 – 45
150	39 – 48
152	41 – 50
155	43 – 52
157	44 – 54
160	47 – 58
163	49 – 59
165	51 – 62
168	53 – 64
170	55 – 67
173	57 – 69
175	59 – 72
178	61 – 74
180	63 – 77
183	65 – 79
185	67 – 82
188	69 – 74
191	72 – 87

The main parameter of female beauty is tone , vigor, health and good mood that they give.Therefore, physical activity should become a part of the life of any modern woman.

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If the rat is not allowed to sleep, it will die in 3 weeks – how the brain and sleep work

I watched a 2-hour

lecture

by Moscow State University professor Vyacheslav Dubynin about the effect of sleep on the brain and brain on sleep. Under the cut is a summary of 20 minutes of reading. If you try to squeeze it to 1 minute, you get something like this:

• How much sleep do you need.Individually, from 6 to 10 hours – for an adult within normal limits.
• Sleep hygiene – the rules to fall asleep and get enough sleep. (Just anchor to the slide list).
• The biological clock is a real physiological process that focuses on circadian rhythms. Changing time zones and working on shifts “shakes” the mechanisms of the biological clock.
• You have to go to bed no later than … – bullshit. Just at the same time.
• If you sleep during the day, buy yourself some nice curtains.Melatonin correlates with lighting. If the sun is shining in your eyes (even your closed ones), you are not fully resting.
• How long can you not sleep. Without irreversible serious consequences, an adult can withstand up to 4 days.
• Sleep is divided into slow and paradoxical phases.
• Slow sleep phase – about cleansing the body. If there is no slow sleep phase, immunity, endocrine, metabolic processes and homeostasis go through the forest. Experimental rats die 15-20 days without sleep from inflammation when gut bacteria enter the bloodstream.
• The paradoxical phase of sleep is involved in information processing. In terms of the level of electrical activity of the brain, it is close to the state of active solution of complex problems.
• When to wake up properly. On the transition from a paradoxical phase to a slow one.
• How to determine by eye when you can wake up. When a person was lying quietly and began to toss and turn, you can wake him up.
• Caffeine prevents the body from signaling fatigue, but it does not provide additional energy.
• How to gently inhibit an overexcited nervous system. Phenobarbital in small doses – corvalol, valocordin, valoserdin. Antihistamines.

Vyacheslav Dubynin – Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov.

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We spend ⅓ or ¼ lives in a sleepy state, it is interesting to imagine what it is for, what phases it consists of, how we can influence it from the point of view of physiology.

Nervous system

Brain stem, ancient, early evolutionary zones. They are responsible for breathing, controlling the heart rate, etc. Sleep and wakefulness are also mostly associated with these structures.

Brainstem includes:

• Medulla oblongata
• Bridge
• Midbrain
• Diencephalon (between hemispheres)

What is marked with yellow circles on the diagram are the most important centers of sleep and wakefulness.This is if we talk about the macro level.

And at the micro level, our brain is cells, and their functioning strongly depends on the state of the centers of sleep and wakefulness. This is something like a power supply.

A person has needs, among them academician P.V. Simonov identified vital needs (vital):

• food (energy, building materials)
• drinking (water-salt exchange)
• safe (passive and active defensive)
• homeostatic (breathing, blood circulation, thermoregulation, sleep, wakefulness)
• economy of strength (“reflexes of laziness”)
• grooming (“body care”)

Homeostasis is the constancy of the internal environment of the body.Pressure, the amount of oxygen and trace elements, all of this is included there. And to maintain homeostasis, you need to sleep.

Prolonged sleep deprivation causes disruption of homeostasis and stress, and can be fatal.

Sleep, first of all, equals rest. But that’s not all. The ancient Greeks understood this. In their pantheon there were 2 gods of sleep – Hypnos and his son Morpheus. The first is the god of sleep, the second is the god of dreams. The Greeks realized that sleep can be a rest, or it can be a state in which something chaotic happens, there are “prophetic” or creative dreams.And there are nightmares and “pseudo-prophetic” dreams. Morpheus was sometimes used by the Olympians to intimidate a hero so that he would not climb where he should not.

We will talk about the state of sleep and the state of dreams. But let’s start simple.

How much sleep 90,763

The answer is very individual. It depends on the set of genes, immunity, age, and the state of your neuro mesh.

There is a separate scientific field that deals with sleep – somnology. Somnologists discuss the amount of sleep a lot.On the slide below, the recommendations of the American National Society of Somnologists:

And it is not very correct to count sleep for hours. Sleep is divided into 1.5-hour cycles and it is more correct to consider sleep as cycles. Those. 4-5-6 cycles are within the normal range for an adult. Less than 4 cycles – the body does not have time to rest, more than 6 cycles – can start problems, for example, with the lymphatic system.

There is also sleep hygiene. For a full sleep, it would be good to observe the following rules:

These are the recommendations of Russian somnologists.The rules are simple, but they require regularity. most people have trouble falling asleep rather than sleeping.

The brain has biological rhythms. To fall asleep easily, you need to get up and go to bed at about the same time. All these life hacks that until midnight 1 hour of sleep is 4 hours – rather a poetic exaggeration. There is no scientific evidence for this. The only thing that matters is the sameness of your bedtime. our clocks don’t readjust very quickly.

If you have trouble falling asleep, rituals are needed to let your brain know that sleep is coming soon.

It is important to sleep in a specific room. Bed for sleeping. If you work or eat there, the brain ceases to understand what you should be doing there. You can’t skimp on the mattress. These 6-7 hours every day are very important for your musculoskeletal system.

Before going to sleep – reduce the illumination. So you, too, let the brain know that it will soon be asleep. Smartphones and any screens before bed are a bad idea, they don’t tell your brain that you are getting ready to sleep.

Food. A light snack is fine, but don’t put anything dense into your stomach.Everyone will rest, but the stomach will have to work. Somehow unfair.

Substances (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, etc.)

Restriction of daytime sleep. During the day, you can sleep in different ways. Either 15-20 minutes to freshen up, or a full cycle. But if you sleep a full cycle during the day, then subtract it from your night’s sleep. The worst option is to sleep for about an hour. A nap like this can only slow your brain down, not invigorate it as planned.

Biological clock

All animals and plants that live on the surface of the planet adjust their lives to the cycles of day and night and to seasonality.We are tropical monkeys by origin, who lived where the seasonality was weak. Those. mainly day-night affects us. On average, these are intervals of 12 hours.

Circadian rhythms are also called circadian. And depending on the time of day, there are serious changes in the nervous and endocrine systems.

They have been working with the endocrine system for a long time, they analyze blood or saliva for the content of the hormones cortisol and melatonin. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal cortex and is responsible for metabolism.Under stress, cortisol is off the charts, but that’s a slightly different story.

Peak cortisol concentrations usually occur between 11 and 13 noon. For many, this is the most productive time to work.

Melatonin is a sleep hormone secreted by the pineal gland. And the level of melatonin correlates with the level of light that our visual system perceives. Its peak occurs at about 2 am, and then cortisol begins to rise again.

If you stay up late, try to do it before 3 am so that your melatonin concentration is higher than your cortisol concentration.

The hypothalamus, the lower half of the diencephalon, is in charge of all this. Neural networks were discovered in it, which in fact are our biological clock – the suprachiasmal nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus. There are cells that are active during the day, they transmit signals to the centers of wakefulness. There are cells that are active at night, they transmit signals to sleep centers.

What a name.

Supra – opposite. Chiasma is the optic nerve. In our eyes, the optic nerve departs from each eye and they cross before entering the hypothalamus.It is opposite these nerves that the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) are located.

The diagram on the right is the visual centers of our brain. The most ancient visual center is the suprachiasmal nuclei. They determine the overall illumination level. They form a biological rhythm in response to a circadian rhythm. Having formed it, they can steadily maintain this rhythm. A small child is tuned to a 24-hour rhythm, but in the future, a person will maintain this rhythm, even if there are problems with lighting.

This works very much like a clock. The hands on the biological clock can be set, but adaptation takes several days. This joke is called jetlag, and many have come across it. It arises if you take and fly from Moscow to Vladivostok. For a couple of days you will rebuild and sleep in the same rhythm.

Jetlag is a serious stress and an impossible situation for our evolutionary past. But the clock is adjusting. If you do this often, you can disrupt the synchronization of the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nuclei.Such adjustments cause not only long-distance flights, but also work in shifts.

Near the suprachiasmatic nuclei, the most important VPLO sleep center is located – the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus.

Here is an overloaded diagram of how the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nuclei maintain rhythms.

It turned out that even a single neuron in the suprachiasmatic nuclei is capable of doing this. This is due to the fact that in the cytoplasm of this nerve cell there are cascades of biochemical reactions that have a daily cycle.Certain proteins and certain genes are of key importance.

Do not be alarmed if anything, for the discovery of this mechanism of daily cycles, a Nobel Prize was given in 2018. True, at first this mechanism was found in the Drosophila fly, and then in mammals.

Sleep phases

There is a resting phase and a dreaming phase. The fact that these different conditions were suspected at the end of the 20th century, when they learned how to write an electroencephalogram (EEG) well.

EEG – the total electrical activity of the nerve cells of the cerebral hemispheres, in order to record it, sensors must be attached to the head in certain places:

α-rhythms, β-rhythms, δ-rhythms, θ-rhythms were identified.It turned out that different phases of sleep are characterized by different rhythms.

,

EEG is the total electrical activity of nerve cells, and in order for it to be beautiful, the cells must work synchronously, i.e. stand idle. Beautiful waves on the EEG are an idle run of neural networks, when there is no specific information, but a certain neural circuit is in a state of readiness.

Alpha rhythms were discovered first, their frequency reflects the active work of our sensory systems. The sensory systems are actively working, but in reality there are no visual and auditory signals.
When a person is in a state of quiet wakefulness – sits with his eyes closed and does nothing – we will record a beautiful alpha rhythm.

Beta-rhythms are faster, their frequency reflects signal transmission inside the cortex to more of the hemispheres – mental stress. You just thought about something difficult and then relaxed. At this point, you can record a beautiful beta rhythm.

If most of the nerve cells are engaged in specific tasks, no waves are visible at all.A low-amplitude, almost flat curve is written. The less frequent the waves and the larger they are in amplitude, the lower the brain activity.

Theta and delta rhythms are written when the brain becomes more and more sleepy.

Theta rhythm is falling asleep.

Delta rhythm – interaction with the deep centers of sleep. This is the state of rest.

During the transition from wakefulness to sleep, the waves on the EEG become more rare and high-amplitude.

In the alpha rhythm, 10-12 waves are placed per second, and in falling asleep there are already 1-2 waves.The presence of delta waves indicates a sleep / rest state.

If an adult has delta waves while awake, this may indicate a tumor, for example.

If you continuously write an EEG during sleep, the delta rhythm of sleep is replaced by a strange picture. A person continues to sleep, sometimes it is even more difficult to wake him up in this phase, but the EEG shows such a rhythm as if the brain is actively processing information. Not just alpha and beta waves, but sometimes almost flat pieces.

Paradox – the person is asleep, and the brain is awake. So this phase of sleep was called “paradoxical sleep.” It is also called the “rapid eye movement” phase, REM sleep, or “rapid eye movement” REM sleep.

If a person is woken up during this phase, he often says that he was dreaming.

Gradually it became clear that during this phase, a person processes the accumulated information. A clear division appeared: sleep-rest, and sleep-dreams. And the purpose of a dream is to process the accumulated information.

The most important picture of the whole lecture:

Columns are one full-fledged sleep of a person. Horizontal time in hours. Green is delta sleep or slow wave sleep. Red bars – REM sleep.

Cycles approx. 1.5 hours. The ratios of delta sleep and REM sleep vary. In the beginning, the first 2 cycles, it is more important to rest. After that, the brain focuses more on processing the accumulated information, not only fresh and relevant.

When is it right to wake up

At the end of the second column.When brain activity is almost awake. If you go into the green phase, especially where the greenest columns are, it is very difficult to wake up a person, and it will take a long time and hard to wake up, because the brain is in a very “inhibited” state.

How devices work that promise to wake you up at the right time.

The most accurate ones are rag pads with eye movement sensors. As soon as you have finished actively moving your eyes, it’s time to wake you up.

Dreams are often emotions. Emotions speed up the pulse.The smart watch will be able to wake you up correctly according to the pulse.

During REM sleep, the person does not move. When the sleeper slept, slept, and suddenly turned around – you can wake up. This is done by devices that simply listen to you sleep. But there is no accuracy.

Our main waking center is inside the bridge. There are cells that collect signals from all sensory systems. Any of our sensory systems is capable of affecting our state of wakefulness: the alarm clock rings, the light shines in our eyes, they let us smell the ammonia, shook our shoulder.

Nerve cells of the pons reticular nuclei (upper right corner of the picture above, A-block). When they were discovered and described in the 20th century, they could not understand what kind of cells they are, why they react to everything. And it turned out to be the main center of wakefulness.

Key sleep signals are sent to the midbrain. Midbrain neurons produce serotonin (5-HT). Slow sleep is influenced by, among other things, serotonin. We maintain a slight muscle tone.

When we go to REM sleep, the blue spot inside the bridge releases the norepinephrine molecule as a neurotransmitter.Norepinephrine blocks serotonin, blocks muscle tone, but allows the cortex to become more active.

The fact that norepinephrine blocks muscle activity is very important. If the muscles are not blocked, dreams provoke a reaction, the arms and legs will run and grab. It happens, but this is a pathology.

By the way, sleepwalking or somnambulism is associated with slow-wave sleep. Residual brain activity leads to the fact that the person moves slowly, he can be laid back.

But a fight during sleep is a violation of the phase of paradoxical sleep.

Slow sleep

Delta sleep – sleep for rest. During this time, the brain consumes the least amount of energy. This enables the entire body to replenish its stores of nutrients and cleanse itself of unnecessary ones. For example, if you supply glucose and remove urea, the body will be at its usual pace, but due to a decrease in brain activity, homeostasis is restored.

But everything turned out to be a little more complicated.

In 2012, an effect was discovered, which was called the “glymphatic system of the brain.” “Glymphatic” consists of “lymphatic” and “glial”.

The lymphatic system helps the circulatory system to remove excess fluid from our tissues.

When we look at the brain, we see billions of neurons. But they do not hang in the void. All gaps between neurons are filled with auxiliary cells – glial cells.

Glial cells support neurons, create mechanical packaging for them.They also isolate neurons from each other so that neurons touch only in the right places – synapses.

Glial cells surround the blood vessels. Those. the substances brought by the blood first pass through the glial cells, and only then reach the nerve cells – the blood-brain barrier.

In the waking state, the gaps between glial cells are very small.

In the state of slow-wave sleep, the volume of glial cells is 20% less. This is due to norepinephrine (which prevents us from fighting during dreams).

There is a lot of norepinephrine during wakefulness and REM sleep, but little during slow-wave sleep. When there is little norepinephrine, the volume of glial cells decreases and gaps appear. Due to this, the movements of the tissue fluid from the arteries to the veins is more intensive. This increases the “drainage function” of the brain.

Here is a more detailed picture to illustrate the processes above:

If you do not sleep with slow sleep, brain cleaning is not so good, all kinds of bad things accumulate, up to beta-amyloids – a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

For many years the Russian researcher Ivan Nikolaevich Pigarev has been developing the visceral theory of sleep.

Apparently, this is adequate to reality and is directly related to the problems arising from insomnia.

Visceral – directed to the internal organs. According to the visceral theory, during wakefulness, information from the internal organs does not pass into our brain. While we are awake, the brain needs to regulate breathing, coordination, movement, and process information from all sensory centers.He has no time for internal organs. And the brain postpones this processing until slow-wave sleep. During slow wave sleep, internal organs can “reach” the brain and receive regulatory signals.

It is assumed that our body itself does an excellent job of regulating the state of internal organs, but for this it needs time, which it can do without being distracted by a bunch of other things.

Immune, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, excretory systems, everything is tied to the leading signals of the nervous system.If there is a total lack of sleep, then problems arise in the work of internal organs, tk. they were not given guidance signals in time. Homeostasis begins to storm.

I.e. first of all, clinical sleep deprivation worsens the work of internal organs.

If the experimental rat is deprived of sleep, then by the end of 3 weeks it dies.

And not from problems with the brain, but from problems with the cardiovascular system and the gastrointestinal tract. The most common cause of death for animals that have been deprived of sleep for a long time is total intestinal inflammation.Against the background of which the intestinal microflora breaks through into the blood, there is a general inflammation – sepsis and death.

If you haven’t slept for a week, you probably won’t die of a stroke. But the problem with sepsis may arise. Here’s a paradox.

Here is a picture of how sleep deprivation experiments are performed on animals:

An EEG is being written on a rat. When it becomes clear that the rat is falling asleep, the carousel is turned, the rat falls into the water and wakes up.So scientists can study the effects of REM sleep deprivation, slow wave sleep, or even sleep in general.

In the middle of the 20th century, there were desperate people who experimented on themselves.

In 1959, 33-year-old Peter Tripp was awake for 8 days (201 hours), albeit taking amphetamines. For several more years he felt the consequences of his experiment. But I got into the Guinness Book of Records.

In 1964, Randy Gardner, 17, was awake for 11 days (264 hours). Apparently, this young man did without amphetamine and had no particular consequences, he just slept off and that’s it.But this was the last straw for the Guinness Book of Records. After this incident, they did not take the records “did not sleep for n-hours”.

The slide shows more details about the course of both experiments:

Paradoxical dream

We spend about 20% of our sleep in REM sleep. If a person is woken up at

this stage, he will most likely say that he had a dream. But he probably won’t remember dreams at other stages. In the latter stages of REM sleep, dreams are usually light.Nightmares are more likely to occur in the early stages, and they can be so hard to perceive that they wrench you out of your sleep.

About every 15 people have dreams every day.

Creative people value their dreams very much. On the slide, there are sketches of dreams by Salvador Dali and Marc Chagall:

Back in the 19th century, Sechenov said that dreams are unprecedented combinations of experienced impressions.

First of all, the brain deals with information per day, the structure of the hippocampus helps it in this.And then you can deal with something that has been accumulated almost all your life.

If, before going to bed, you clearly set a task for the paradoxical sleep system, then it is able to continue solving this problem in a dream, and you will find a solution. Or you will wake up with a ready-made solution.

Anecdote on the topic:

At first, Pushkin dreamed of the periodic table, but he did not understand anything.

In order for the information to be written into long-term memory, it is necessary to sleep properly and let the paradoxical sleep phase work with the received data.

First, the information of the current day is “written” into a structure called the hippocampus. And only then is it overwritten throughout the cerebral cortex. In fact, the hippocampus is working memory, and the cerebral cortex is long-term. And the dubbing seems to be going on during paradoxical sleep.

Another I.P. Pavlov understood that for effective learning, the brain needs the correct state:

As you can see, in addition to the state of the brain, it is important that the information is also meaningful to you.Otherwise, the anti-spam system will work, which does not need anything superfluous.

By the way, the “edge effect” works well. We better remember the information that we received at the beginning of the day and just before bed.

This is how our hippocampus looks from different angles:

Translated from English, the hippocampus is “seahorse”. Neuroanatomists were apparently poetic people.

The hippocampus contains neural networks that are capable of capturing information almost instantly.For example, for the next 10-15 minutes you will definitely remember the word “hippocampus”.

The hippocampus has interesting properties:

A small amount of memory, for example, does not allow us to equally well perceive the first 10 minutes of the lecture and the end of the second hour of the lecture.

New information is stored during the “working day”, and rewriting partially depends on the emotional background. Sometimes we memorize information that we would like to forget and cannot remember the necessary information. But this is a slightly different topic.

During the rewriting, there are processes of generalization, association with other fragments of your experience. The more interesting your day, the more your REM sleep will be that night.

On average, REM sleep in children is longer than in adults, apparently because the world is new to them.

Chemicals

There are 90 billion nerve cells in our brain, they are in contact with processes, forming contacts – synapses. At synapses, signals are transmitted by neurotransmitters. These substances – neurotransmitters – are important in understanding how the brain works.

And these same substances are the basis of psychopharmacology. With the help of them, we try to control or correct the work of the brain

Main mediators of the central nervous system:

Glutamate – exciting, transmits the main information flows in the brain, is associated with sensing, memory, preparation of movements.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) – inhibitory, blocks information flows, provides motor control, emotional control, sensory control (when we can listen to one voice and not reverse the recording to another).

Because GABA is the main brake, its role in falling asleep is great. If we shift the balance towards more GABA, we fall asleep more easily.

More often the opposite problem arises when the concentration of glutamate is higher. In adults, it is nervousness and insomnia, in children it sometimes looks like ADHD.

The most serious excitation-inhibition imbalance is epilepsy.

To shift the balance in favor of inhibition, drugs are used that activate GABA synapses.

Classical hypnotics – barbiturates, benzodiazepines.

Phenobarbital is one of the known and available over-the-counter molecules that is part of Corvalol, Valocordin.

Valerian has a similar, but weak effect.

Sometimes pure GABA is used in tablets, but it hardly goes to the brain, and if it does, it does not work as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, but rather as food for nerve cells. So it’s more of a nootropic than a sedative.

Serotonin is also important for triggering the sleep state. Poor serotonin function is a prerequisite for depression and insomnia.

You can help a little with drugs containing the molecule from which serotonin is made. Again, this is the level of dietary supplements and nootropics.

Our body produces glutamate and GABA easily and in any quantity.

To make serotonin, you need a tryptophan molecule. We get tryptophan with dietary proteins and cannot make it ourselves. Taking it in tablet form can have a mild dietary supplement effect and improve falling asleep. The positioning by manufacturers of tryptophan-containing drugs as antidepressants is a clear overkill.

Specificity of dietary supplements – they do not help everyone, but if they help, they allow you to gently correct some problem.

Tryptophan is converted in our nerve cells into 5-hydroxytryptophan, and then into serotonin. 5-Hydroxytryptophan is also offered as a supplement. It works a little more reliably, but it still remains a dietary supplement.

A mediator opposite in effect, i.e. interfering with falling asleep is called norepinephrine.

A computer game, a parachute jump, a sports victory – these are noradrenaline forms of pleasure.

Molecules similar to norepinephrine also interfere with falling asleep. For example, some components of cheeses. Norepinephrine is formed from the amino acid tyrosine. And the bacteria that make cheese can convert tyrosine to tyramine. And tyramine is similar to norepinephrine.

Sleep and wakefulness centers

1. The main center of wakefulness in the reticular nuclei of the pons.
2. Two sleep centers – the VLPO of the hypothalamus and the midbrain area associated with the release of serotonin.
3. Next Blue spot, responsible for norepinephrine, an auxiliary center of wakefulness.
4. Suprachiasmal nuclei, they are also the biological clock.
5. Reticular nuclei of the medulla oblongata, about them just below.

In step 5 there is an auxiliary sleep center that reacts to the chemical composition of the blood. When we are sick, tired or have a heavy meal, the reticular nuclei send out the appropriate signals and intensify the sleep state.

This is how all these sleep and wake systems are configured:

Our main center of wakefulness, the pons reticular nuclei (yellow block), causes general arousal in the brain.

The main centers of sleep (blue block in the center) compete with him all the time, which inhibit the main center of wakefulness.

The main center of wakefulness strikes back through the Blue Spot (blue block) and releases adrenaline. Norepinephrine can also react to stress, so we may not sleep from that too.

We also add the reticular nuclei of the medulla oblongata (blue block on the right), which react to the chemical composition of the blood.

Plus suprachiasmus nuclei act, which are the biological clock (green block).

Plus, all sensory systems (white block on the top left) can transfer us from a sleepy state to a wakeful one due to the activation of the reticular nuclei of the pons.

This is not the most complex system of the body. There are many more zones in the memory or motor system. But the system is still complex and includes various factors.

For example, falling asleep instantly is narcolepsy. This is a pathology, you cannot do that. Otherwise, you will fall asleep anywhere and the predator will eat you. But you need to wake up quickly, if the predator comes – you need to jump up and run.

Melatonin

Melatonin is controlled by the hypothalamus. The release of melatonin is inhibited by visual signals. Even through the eyelids, bright light prevents the pineal gland (the piece of the brain where the black cursor is in the picture) from releasing melatonin.

If your routine is shifted towards sleep during the daytime, then take care of blackout curtains.

Melatonin is dispersed throughout the body and reduces the activity of all systems: the heart beats slower, intestinal function is inhibited, body temperature drops.Plus it is an important antioxidant.

For sleep problems, it is recommended to take melatonin tablets. This substance also acts mildly, at the level of dietary supplements. If you change your time zone frequently, understand the importance of melatonin. Even with age, there may be problems with the production of melatonin.

More about drugs

Glycine – very poorly passes into the brain, affects the level of dietary supplements, but some have a slightly sedative effect.

Histamine is a substance that is associated with inflammation.Antihistamines are what you drink for allergies. Antihistamines have a side effect – an inhibitory effect on the brain. The creative thought of pharmacologists turned the side effect into the main one. These are anti-motion sickness pills and tranquilizers – relieving anxiety and improving falling asleep.

Caffeine – activating effect. When the body is tired, adenosine molecule is produced in large quantities. Caffeine interferes with adenosine’s signaling of fatigue, creating an invigorating effect. Because it is not additional energy, but lending from its own resources.

Sleep disorders

If you are more interested in sleep pathologies, you can listen to Mikhail Poluektov

Books

Vladimir Kovalzon: “

Fundamentals of Somnology. Physiology and neurochemistry of the “wakefulness-sleep” cycle

“

Alexander Wayne” Sleep – mysteries and paradoxes “

Questions

Dreams that my back hurts. I wake up – my back hurts. What comes first?

Probably there are problems with the back, but during wakefulness they “do not reach” the brain.It was not the dream that provoked the pain, but the signal from the back reached the brain. Most likely so.

Although with age, really long sleep can cause back pain. Our intervertebral discs are strongly compressed from upright posture, and in a dream, this whole structure straightens and can press on the spinal nerves. This sometimes provokes long sleep.

Is it harmful to sleep for 1.5 hours during the day?

Focus on the request of the body. If he feels good, sleep. You may have to subtract these 1.5 hours from your night’s sleep.

Where does sex fit into sleep cycles? (the girl asks)

Everything is very individual, especially for the female body. I gave a lecture recently. Depending on the specific sexual intercourse, the nervous system can go both arousal and inhibition. In this regard, the male body is more predictable – more often after the inhibition of the nervous system is turned on. But evolutionarily, sex is more important than sleep (reproduction is more important than survival).

I am 40 years old, I sleep less than 6 hours and get up very early (around 4:30).Is this a violation?

If you feel great and the morning hours are productive for you – maybe you just have such a chronotype. Our ability to respond to sunlight, the amount and rate of production of proteins responsible for this is inherited. You can read about the chronotype.

Why sleep is disturbed with covid?

Because neuroinflammation is on. Especially in a serious condition, there is a serious systemic inflammation, which leads to disruption of the brain.Sleep disturbance – flowers. There are also delusional states

How do you track your sleep phases?

I personally experimented with the alarm clock. I fall asleep almost instantly, so I tried moving the wake-up time back and forth by 10-15 minutes. I found my ideal – 6 hours 15 minutes.

Why do some people have poses in which it is easy for them to fall asleep easily, and in some it is simply impossible to fall asleep?

Traditionally it is considered comfortable to sleep on the right side, worse on the back, even worse on the stomach, even worse on the left side.In fact, your specific spine, the mattress, and the old knee injury are taken into account. I sleep on my right side.

But a person turns over 20-30 times a night. If a person slept all night in one position, this may be a sign of too much fatigue. If, on the contrary, it is constantly spinning all night, this may be an indicator of severe stress. Everything is individual.

Why is it impossible to sleep for days from pain and fever?

This is a sensory signal! Moreover, if we are talking about the heat from infectious diseases, interleukin molecules appear, they strongly affect the hypothalamus.Bad for everything. And the centers of thermoregulation and centers of sleep and wakefulness.

Pain is norepinephrine climbing. What a dream.

What explains sleep paralysis?

Listen to a lecture by Mikhail Poluektov. He talks very well. Until then, here’s a spoiler.

Sleep paralysis is when a person wakes up in a very deep paradoxical sleep. Norepinephrine blockade of muscles is still working, consciousness is working, but a piece of the brain is still dreaming.