The Human Body

The human body is composed of 3 distinct parts: the head, the trunk and the extremities.
The head consists of the cranial cavity containing the brain and the facial part composed of the
ears, the forehead, the eyes with eyelids and eyelashes, the eyebrows, the nose, the cheeks, two
jaws – the upper jaw and the lower jaw, the mouth with two lips (upper and lower) and the chin.
The neck connects the head with the trunk. The trunk is divided by the diaphragm (a
dome-shaped structure) into two parts: the upper called the thoracic cavity (thorax or chest) and
the lower termed the abdominal cavity (abdomen or belly). The thorax contains
(accommodates) the lungs, the heart, the esophagus and the structures of the mediastinum.
Below the diaphragm, in the abdominal cavity there is the stomach with the pancreas, the liver
with the gall bladder, the intestines (bowels or guts) the kidneys and the bladder.
The upper and lower extremities (limbs) are connected to the trunk by girdles, the
shoulder blade and the pelvis with the coxo-femoral joint (hip joint). The other joints of the
lower limb are the knee and the ankle that connect the thigh with the leg and the leg with the
foot. There are toes on each foot. The upper extremity has also two joints: elbow and the wrist.
The parts of the upper limb are: the upper arm, the forearm and the hand. The hand has a thumb
and four fingers, not to forget the nails.
The osseous structure of the human body (the skeleton) is formed by a solid framework
of bones held together by joints ans cartilages and covered with muscles. The skeleton can be
divided into the axial skeleton including the skull, the vertebral column and the thoracic cage;
and the appendicular skeleton including the peripheral bones of the limbs. All the bones can be
classified according to their shape, size, function, position and structure. Long bones are found
in the limbs (eg. the humerus and the tibia). The short bones are the carpal, the tarsal or the
sesamoid bones. The bones of the fingers or toes are called „miniature” long bones. The flat
bones are the ribs, the scapula, the sternum or the breastbone and the skull bones which are 26
in number. Another category of bones are the vertebral that form the vertebral column (spine
or backbone) that comprises several parts: the cervical spine, the thoracic spine, the lumbar
spine, the sacrum and the coccyx. The number and shape of the vertebrae forming various
portions of the spine are different but the largest are the lumbar ones because they have to bear
the compression made by the body weight. Bones also differ according to the substance forming
them, that can be compact (ivory and dense) and cancellous (spongy). The outer layer of a long
bone (the cortex) consists of compact substance and the inner medullar cavity is filled with
bone marrow.
 Humerus

Sternum Scapula

Tibia