Structure of the Skin

The study and treatment of the integumentary system is called [1]. The skin, its largest organ, consists of a stratified squamous epithelium called the [2] and a connective tissue layer called the [3]. The dead, cornified cells at the surface form a layer called the [4]. This is especially well-developed on the palms and soles, where the skin is therefore called [5]. This layer is composed mainly of the protein [6]. Except for this dead layer, most of the thickness of the epidermis is a layer called the [7], composed mainly of cells called [8]. The deepest layer of the epidermis is the [9], where mitosis occurs and cells called [10] synthesize the pigment melanin.

The superficial layer of the dermis is the [11]. It consists of loose, or [12], connective tissue. This layer is named for the upward corrugations called [13], which resist slippage of the epidermis over the dermis. Deep to this is a layer of dense irregular connective tissue called the [14] layer. The tissue deep to this is not part of the skin, so it is called the subcutaneous tissue. It can also be called [15], or in places where it is predominantly adipose, it can be called [16].

Caucasian skin gets its color mainly from the white dermal collagen and the blood pigment [17]. The dietary pigment [18] sometimes gives it a yellowish tint, but if both the skin and the whites of the eyes are tinted this color, a disorder called [19] is to be suspected. Black, brown, tan, and reddish hues are all due to various amounts of [20]. Choking or cardiac arrest may cause an abnormal skin color called [21], due to a low level of oxygen in the blood. The redness of blushing or sunburn is called [22]. Two skin markings that develop before birth are the fingerprints, or [23], and birthmarks, clinically known as [24]. [25] creases form after birth as the joints are repeatedly flexed.

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Functions of the Skin

Most infectious organisms cannot get through the tough keratin barrier of the skin, although some of them use biting arthropods called [26] to breach this barrier. Growth of bacteria and fungi on the skin surface is inhibited by the low pH of sweat, forming a protective [27] on the epidermis. The skin initiates the synthesis of [28] when UV radiation acts on a steroid in the blood flowing through the dermis. The skin can increase heat loss from the body by means of cutaneous [29] or it can help hold heat in the body by the opposite reaction, [30]. The integument also has many [31] functions related to its appearance, its role in facial expression, and the impressions these make on other individuals.

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Hair and Nails

The nails and part of the hair are made of a durable, extensively cross-linked protein called hard [32]. A hair grows in a diagonal epithelial tube called a [33]. Most of the hair within this tube is called the root, but it has a dilation at its base called the [34], where it derives all its nutrition from blood capillaries. Coarse, pigmented hair is called [35], whereas most of the body hair of women and children is called [36]. The surface of a hair consists of scaly, overlapping cells called the hair [37]. Most hair colors are due to melanin, but red hair gets its color from a pigment called [38]. Chills and fear often cause the hair to stand on end because of the action of the [39] muscles of the hair follicles. Excessive hairiness is called hypertrichosis, while thinning of the hair is called [40].

The clear, hard portion of a fingernail is known as the nail [41]. It has a root, body, and free edge. The space under the free edge is called the [42], and must be scrupulously cleaned when scrubbing for patient care. The nail grows from a mitotically active tissue called the [43]. Often a little of this is visible at the proximal end of the nail as a white crescent called the [44].

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Cutaneous Glands

Sweat glands are also known as [45] glands. One type, called the [46] glands, serve for evaporative cooling of the body, while the other, called [47] glands, are scent glands. One region where the latter type can be found is the [48] region. We lose about half a liter of water a day by [49] perspiration, which we don't notice because it evaporates immediately from the skin. More profuse sweating, with noticeable wetness, is called [50]. Associated with the hair follicles are holocrine glands called [51], which produce a skin oil called [52]. Earwax, or [53], consists mainly of the secretions of the [54] glands in the ear canal. The [55] glands are modified sweat glands that show significant development only in pregnancy and maternity; thus they are not the same as the [56], although they are located within them.

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Integumentary Aging and Diseases

At puberty, a girl's skin thickens and grows more blood vessels under the influence of the hormone [57], but acne in both girls and boys results from actions of the hormone [58]. The latter hormone also stimulates the growth of [59] in both sexes and the skin's secretion of [60].

Skin cancer occurs in three forms. The most common but least dangerous type is [61], which arises from keratinocytes of the stratum basale. The least common but most deadly form of skin cancer involves the melanocytes and is called [62]. The most commonly fatal disorder of the skin, however, is burns. First- and second-degree burns are called [63] burns because they do not destroy all of the dermis. Third degree burns are called [64] burns because all the dermis and sometimes deeper tissue is destroyed. The most urgent concern in the treatment of third-degree burns is [65], and after this comes concern for [66].

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