The Nervous System – A High Speed Connection

January 30th, 2011 admin


The Internet as we know it may well have had the human nervous system as its inspiration.

The nervous system relies on a high-speed communications network to alert the brain to information that affects all areas of the body.

For instance the impulses sent from the nervous system to the brain travel at up to 250 miles per hour. This is infinitely faster than the endocrine system that sends hormones through the bloodstream and may take an hour to get to their destination.

The nervous system has the full attention of the brain and the brain responds. The responses can be the result of pain, enjoyment or other sensory data.

Electrically charged neurons make up the communications landscape of the nervous system. When the nervous system kicks in electrical charges and chemical reactions are generated as information is sent on a fast track to a brain that either calls for action or reaction to the supplied data stream.

The three primary elements of the nervous system are the brain, the spinal chord and a complex nerve network reaching all areas of your body.

There are at least 24 different nerve centers in the body and all five senses are reflected in the system controlled by neurons.

The function of the nervous system is to gear the body up for action or calm it to the point of relaxation. The problem comes when our actions and our thought patterns tell our body’s nervous system to react in a way counter to what the body actually needs. For instance we can insist on being worried and our body’s nervous system works overtime to help us keep tense and alert when the risk we imagine is not an identifiable threat. This is often counterproductive to the actual needs of the body.

The journey of the nerve impulses has been described as “An electrical charge that travels down the cell membrane of a neuron’s dendrite and/or axon through the action of the Na-K pump. Ordinarily, the inside of a neuron’s cell membrane is negatively-charged while the outside is positively-charged. When sodium and potassium ions change places, this reverses the inner and outer charges causing the nerve impulse to travel down the membrane. A nerve impulse is “all-or-none:” it either goes or not, and there’s no halfway. However, a neuron needs a threshold stimulus, the minimum level of stimulus needed, to trigger the Na-K pump to go and the impulse to travel. A neuron cannot immediately fire again; it needs time for the sodium and potassium to return to their places and everything to return to normal. This time is called the refractory period.

“A junction between two nerve cells or a nerve and a muscle cell is called a synapse. In a synapse, various chemicals are used to transfer the impulse across the gap to the next cell. These are collectively known as neurotransmitters, and include such chemicals as dopamine (brain levels of which are low in Parkinson’s disease), serotonin, and acetylcholine (levels of which are low in myasthenia gravis).” [1]

The body’s nervous system is an intricate method that relies on a logical series of events to trigger an appropriate body response. Without this system we could not exist.

Perhaps the nervous system looks designed because it is designed.

[1] http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Courses/bio105/nervous.htm

By: Scott Langley

About the Author:
Discover truth using simple everyday logic. Learn the truth about evolution and intelligent design. Articles, debate, and more. Obvious Truths: http://www.obvioustruths.com/



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Digestion – It Does A Body Good

January 30th, 2011 admin


In order for the food we eat to become useful to our bodies it must be taken from the solid form we swallow to a molecular form that can be carried through the bloodstream as beneficial nutrients. Our bodies recognize the filling nature of food, but much of what we consume ultimately becomes waste once the nutrient molecules have been separated from the food byproduct. Proper digestion is what allows your body to convert the food into energy the body can use.

Nerves, muscles and digestive juices work together to facilitate the breakdown of the large food pieces into smaller chunks and ultimately to nutrient molecules.

The process begins as the food enters the mouth where saliva introduces enzymes that begin breaking down the food. From there the food enters the esophagus and then on to the stomach and small intestine. In each location the food is broken down into smaller pieces.

Once the food makes its way to the small intestine the liver’s bile, the pancreas’ enzymes and the juices in the intestine itself allow the molecular nourishment to be absorbed through the lining of the intestine and into the blood stream. The remaining particles are moved through the intestine and into the colon where they are ultimately eliminated as waste.

The bile from the liver is actually stored in the gall bladder when you aren’t eating and then used to facilitate the breakdown of fats in the food you do eat.

Another system housed within your body is the regulatory agent for digestion. This system is referred to as the Endocrine system and it sends hormonal messengers to cause the digestive tract to perform the various functions we can observe.

Yet another of our body’s system provides aid to digestion. This system is known as the nervous system. The Extrinsic nerve calls for the release of Acetylcholine and Adrenaline, which cause the digestive muscles to squeeze harder and then relax during those times when we eat. This allows the food to be digested much more efficiently. The intrinsic nerves found on the inside of the digestive tract tell the digestive muscles to either speed up or slow down the process of digestion.

It is estimated that your body will digest roughly 50 tons of food in a lifetime. In most cases a human body has 35 feet of intestines which may explain why it can take up to three hours for food to pass through the serpentine digestive tube.

The digestive system is a part of the human body that relies on multiple systems and organs to enable a variety of foods to be made useful to our health and well-being. This system is complex and interconnected. The result is a highly efficient fueling device for the human body.

With such reliance on multiple systems, does it seem difficult to assume these systems evolved separately, yet in a mutually agreeable manner that ultimately resulted in proper digestion? Or is it more likely the digestive system was intentionally designed to interact with multiple systems for the overall benefit of the body?

Perhaps the digestive system looks designed because it is designed.

By: Scott Langley

About the Author:
Discover truth using simple everyday logic. Learn the truth about evolution and intelligent design. Articles, debate, and more. Obvious Truths: http://www.obvioustruths.com/



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Brighten Up Your Bathroom With an Over the Toilet Cabinet

January 28th, 2011 admin


The expensive furnishings seem to get into the bathroom. Expensive bathtubs, washbasins, and mirrors are used with an objective of giving that beautiful look to the bathroom. However, most of the people struggle to find a solution to the most distracting object in the bathroom i.e. the toilet. Irrespective of how beautiful and expensive toilet you buy, it will be a toilet only and will distract people from the otherwise beautiful bathroom of yours.

Over the toilet cabinet as a solution This problem can be easily solved with a beautiful over the toilet cabinet. The over the toilet cabinet is a simple cabinet that is designed with your toilet in mind. There is a lot of thought that has gone into designing this simple object which can be seen from the way it blends smoothly with your toilet. The intelligent design of the cabinet enables it to serve lot of functionality without occupying any additional space and without causing any inconvenience.

You can see a cabinet over the toilet in the adjacent picture. This is a cabinet with glass doors. The cabinet is not exactly expensive. However if you are on a tight budget, then you may go for an open toilet cabinet. On the contrary, if you are not comfortable with displaying your private use objects to visitors, then you may go for a wooden door cabinet. While being comparatively more expensive, it offers complete privacy.

The saving of space on its own is a good enough reason to go for one of these toilet cabinets. However more importantly the toilet cabinet provides a good distraction from the toilet and thereby improves the look of your entire bathroom. You can consider some creative lighting arrangement to enhance the effect even further.

The toilet cabinet helps to enhance the overall beauty of your bathroom by reducing the clutter at other places of your bathroom. Your daily use objects like toothbrush, soap, napkins etc can easily go into the cabinet. That will reduce the clutter on your basin thereby giving the visitors a better chance of appreciating the beauty of all those expensive furnishings that you have put into your bathroom.

Before I conclude, please remember to get a cabinet that is compatible with your height. A cabinet that is too tall or too short for you will cause a lot of inconvenience in your day to day activity. A variable height cabinet is the best for this purpose, provided your budget permits you.

By: Pradeep Kar

About the Author:
The over the toilet cabinet is an example of intelligent use of available space through the use of over toilet storage. More importantly it improves the look of your bathroom without actually requiring you to buy some expensive stuff.



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