System Interactions

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System Interaction Objectives

Explain why the selected urinary misconceptions are incorrect.
Describe the basic structures and functions of the liver, including common disorders.
List different ways excessive alcohol, including alcohol poisoning, can disrupt homeostasis in the body.

We have all heard it repeatedly: reduce risk for a variety of diseases by eating a balanced diet, participating in regular exercise, getting enough sleep, and reducing negative stresses. So why are these factors often a lower priority than other things in our lives?

In this section we’ll start talking about risk, and explore information that you can use to make your own daily decisions.

Self-diagnosis is common, but in many cases like urine, it is hard to determine why changes are occurring. Medical personnel have access to wide ranges of testing and knowledge in how to interpret results.

The liver has come up repeatedly in this course, and we’re going to provide more detail here since it is one of the organs that links together several organ systems.

Liver Damage

This model illustrates some of the more common liver diseases.

Hepatitis & Cirrhosis

Several factors can cause liver inflammation (hepatitis), and over time the liver can scar (cirrhosis).

Excessive Alcohol

Alcohol can negatively impact a wide range of organs over time.

Alcohol Poisoning

“Binge” drinking of multiple alcoholic beverages in a row can lead to life-threatening loss of homeostasis.

Type 2 Diabetes (covered in an upcoming Guide), obesity, and excessive alcohol consumption can lead to fat building up in the liver. If left untreated, parts of the liver become fibrous and scarred, losing function.

These videos compare normal liver architecture with fatty liver.

This is the end of the Urinary System guide. The material from this guide and corresponding lecture, as well as the previous Respiratory System guide, are assessed on the weekly quiz.

Check your knowledge. Can you:

explain why the selected urinary misconceptions are incorrect?
describe the basic structures and functions of the liver, including common disorders?
list different ways excessive alcohol, including alcohol poisoning, can disrupt homeostasis in the body?