skin

Your Tongue – Episode 105

 in Podcasts  tagged anatomy / eat / extrinsic / glossus / intrinsic / muscles / organ / skin / speech / swallow / tongue by

Tongue Basics

Your tongue is made up of eight muscles.  This is why it is called a muscular organ.  It is the most important articulator in speech production. (A brief word dissection:  articulate means to communicate something clearly.  In medicine, articulate means to make a connection.  It all makes sense!)

The tip is called the apex.  The crease down the middle is called the median lingual sulcus.  There is another crease at the back of your tongue and it is called the sulcus terminalis.

Tongue Muscles

The tongue has two types of muscles.  Extrinsic muscles attach to bones boarding the mouth.  Intrinsic muscles are completely contained inside the tongue borders.

Extrinsic Muscles

These muscles are responsible for moving your tongue front to back and side to side.  There are four of them and they are named for the facial bones that they are anchored to.

  • The genioglossus muscle moves it forward so you can stick it out of your mouth.
  • The Hyoglossus muscle pulls it back and presses it down.
  • The Styloglossus muscle raises the sides of it during swallowing.
  • The Palatoglossus muscle raises the back of it during swallowing.  It also presses the soft palate down and squeezes the palatoglossal arch inward during that same step of swallowing.

Intrinsic Muscles

These muscles are responsible for all the shapes and movements your tongue makes when you talk and eat.

  • The superior longitudinal muscle covers the top side.
  • The inferior longitudinal muscle covers the bottom side.
  • The vertical muscle fibers are in the middle and connect the superior to the inferior muscles.
  • The transverse muscle fibers start at the median sulcus and connect to the outer edges.

The Tongue Has Skin?!

The surface of your tongue is known as the masticatory mucosa, which basically means it’s the surface that food comes in contact with.  The surface is made up of epithelial cells just like your skin.  The cells are keratinized (or filled with a toughening protein) so it is tough and does not get damaged by the wide variety of things we eat.

Call Backs

Wrinkly Brain

Skin 101

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Vitamin D [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged bone health / calcium / immune system / skin / sunlight / vitamin D by

Vitamin D Basics

Vitamin D is made by your skin.

Lots of foods are fortified with Vit D.

Vitamin D2 is plant-based.  Plants make vitamin D then you eat them and absorb it.  This is also the type of Vitamin D that is added to other foods.

Vitamin D3 is animal-based.  You absorb very little Vitamin D from animal food sources.  This is the type that your skin makes.

Review

The membranes of your cells are made up of cholesterol.  It allows them to stay fluid and flexible, and it allows diffusion of some nutrients.
UV-B rays come down from the sun and travel through the top layer of your skin. Those rays interact with the cholesterol in the skin cells and cause it to break away and it starts a changing process as that loose molecule makes it way to the bloodstream.  *Think the Hulk transformation*.  By the time it reaches the bloodstream, it has become D3 (~ 12 hour long process).

Vit D3 = Calcitriol (tri = 3)
Vit D2 = Calcidiol (di = 2)

The news will tell you that Vit D is needed to prevent the Winter Blues or that it’s good for your bones.

Deeper Stuff

Vitamin D has 2 jobs to help with your bone health.  It tells your intestines to make calcium-carrying and phosphorus-carrying proteins, so when you eat foods that contain calcium or phosphorus, the cells of the small intestines will have the ability to transport these molecules into the bloodstream.  Then in your periosteum (the membrane that covers your bones), Vitamin D works with parathyroid hormone to tell the periosteum cells to make the same kinds of proteins to get the calcium out of the blood and into the bone-building process.

Vitamin D also has an important role in your immune system.  It plays a part in cell differentiation.  It helps an immune system cell know which type of cell it needs to specialize as (B-cell, T-cell, macrophage) to do the optimum job  based on the type of invader that has entered your body.

While sun exposure stimulates Vit D production, there has to be a balance to avoid skin aging and risks of cancer.  Taking Vit D supplements can be a safer alternative.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Skin 101 [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged collagen / complexion / elastin / epidermis / hydration / keratin / melanin / skin / stem cells / tan by

Skin 101

Your skin is the largest organ of your body.

It has 3 jobs: Protection, Regulation, Sensation

Natural complexions are being viewed as more beautiful than a “tan”.

3 Layers

  • Epidermis (above skin) – waterproof, gives you your color, the layer we see
  • Dermis-Epidermis junction – a protein layer containing collagen and elastin to give skin flexibility and stretchability
  • Dermis – where your glands, hair follicles, and nerves are
  • Hypodermis – (below skin) – houses adipose tissue for insulation, and blood vessels

A hand-drawn and colored sketch of the skin layers, with labeled parts.

The Epidermis is made up of several separate layers based on what is happening in the cell’s lifetime.

A hand-drawn and colored sketch of the layers of the epidermis, with labeled parts

The basement membrane sits right on top of the Dermis-Epidermis junction, made up of fibrous proteins to be a solid foundation.

Epidermis Layers

  • Basal Layer – Keratinocytes (makes Keratin) and Melanocytes (makes Melanin) – stem cells.
  • Spinous Layer – Cells are actively dividing and getting squished together
  • Granular Layer – Cells start making the proteins (keratin or melanin) that they are coded to make and it fills up all the intracellular space; the organelles of the cells get crowded out
  • Lucid Layer (Clear) – Keratinized cells are clear; Melanin-filled cells are colored. Cells are officially dead.  Cells become coated in a hydrophobic (afraid of water) oil.
  • Hard Layer  – cells are tightly packed together and dry; the layer we can touch.

These cells are being continuously produced and shed off and replenished because the skin takes a lot of abuse.

Deeper Stuff

UV light from sun or tanning beds (heaven forbid!) stimulates melanocytes to divide faster and create more melanin (because melanin is reflective and keeps UV rays away from the important cells).  This is how a tan is created.  But during times of huge exposure, like tanning beds, there’s not enough melanin to keep all the UV rays out so those rays can wreak havoc on the collagen and elastin proteins.  This is why over-tanned skin ages faster.

Hydrating makes sure that the living and dividing cells are plump and as healthy as possible so when they move to the next layer, they are well nourished.

Protection: keeps dirt and bacteria out; protections from UV radiation
Regulation: releases sweat to cool the body’s temp; subtly moves blood vessel closer or farther away from the surface to either cool the warm blood (like after exercise) or keep it warm (like in the winter).
Sensations: allows you to feel things that touch you or come close to you.

I can’t seem to find any free footage of the original episode (Season 1, Episode 3) without having to sign up for a free streaming service.  The Mythbusters did a “revisit” of their Goldfinger episode.  Netflix the original, if you can.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Medication Intolerances 2 [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged allergies / dryness / flushing / intolerance / itching / medications / rash / skin by

3 drug intolerances that involve the skin

  1. Itching and rash – even though they are a big sign of allergies, they also can be typical side effects of medications
    • Narcotics – in hospitals, they give diphenhydramine (Benadryl) to calm an itching side effect
    • Sulfa antibiotics and tetracyclines – sun hypersensitivity.  Not a sunburn, though.  May require pain reliever to get comfortable.
  2. Flushing – redness and hotness of the skin
    • Niacin – used for cholesterol reduction.  Flushing is reduced by taking 81 mg of aspirin 30 minutes before taking niacin
    • Hormones – natural or in medication (birth control or hormone replacement).  Can be reduced or eased by taking before bed or taking with food
    • IV contrast – as the medication spreads through the body.
  3. Dryness – especially of skin surfaces that require moisture (i.e. mucous membranes)
    • Antihistamines and cold medications – dry eyes, dry nose
    • Overactive bladder medications – dry eyes, dry mouth, constipation
    • IBS meds that control diarrhea – constipation

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/