Skin
hideThe skin is the outer covering of the body. In humans, it is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of mesodermal tissues, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, birds. Human skin is not unlike that of most other mammals except that it is not protected by a pelt and appears hairless though in fact nearly all human skin is covered with hair follicles. The adjective cutaneous literally means "of the skin" (from Latin cutis, skin).
Because it interfaces with the environment, skin plays a key role in protecting (the body) against pathogens and excessive water loss. Its other functions are insulation, temperature regulation, sensation, synthesis of vitamin D, and the protection of vitamin B folates. Severely damaged skin will try to heal by forming scar tissue. This is often discolored and depigmented.
In humans, skin pigmentation varies among populations, and skin type can range from dry to oily. Such skin variety provides a rich and diverse habit for bacteria which number roughly a 1000 species from 19 phyla.
For more information about Skin, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with skin
Ancestry attracts, but love is blind
Nov 20, 2009 |
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People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin colour. Research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, shows that M ...
Text message reminders can encourage healthy action
Nov 16, 2009 |
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People who received daily text messages reminding them to apply sunscreen were nearly twice as likely to use it as those who did not receive such messages, a new study led by a UC Davis Health System dermatologist has found. ...
Skin color gives clues to health
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Researchers from the universities of Bristol and St. Andrews in the UK have found that the color of a person's skin affects how healthy and therefore attractive they appear, and have found that diet may be crucial to achieving ...
Smokers with common autoimmune disorder at higher risk for skin damage
Nov 02, 2009 |
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As if there weren't enough reasons to stop smoking, a team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have just found another. A study led by Dr. Christian A Pineau, Co-Director ...
Cellular Source of Most Common Type of Abnormal Heart Beat Found
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most ...
Obesity significantly increases side effects of stereotactic body radiation therapy in lung cancer patients
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Obesity, not the amount of radiation given, is the greatest factor in whether early-stage lung cancer patients develop chest wall pain after receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy to the chest wall, with obese patients ...
Adapting space-industry technology to treat breast cancer
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Researchers at Rush University Medical Center and Argonne National Laboratory are collaborating on a study to determine if an imaging technique used by NASA to inspect the space shuttle can be used to predict tissue damage ...
Switching immunosuppressants reduces cancer risk in kidney
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Switching to a newer type of immunosuppressant drug may reduce the high rate of skin cancer after kidney transplantation, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and ...
Geneticists hunt for scleroderma triggers
Oct 29, 2009 |
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At its most benign, the autoimmune disease scleroderma can discolor parts of the skin of its sufferers. At its most pernicious, it can thicken and harden their skin, their blood vessels, and their internal organs before, ...
Like mother, like daughter, at least around the eyes
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests the old saying commonly told to husbands-to-be is true, that if you want to know what your wife will look like, look at her mother.
Do drug therapies raise risk of bladder cancer?
Oct 26, 2009 |
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In her most recent study of possible triggers of cancer among northern New England residents, Dartmouth epidemiologist Margaret R. Karagas, Ph.D., and her team identified an enhanced risk to the bladders of patients taking ...
Study reveals possible link between IBD therapy and skin cancer
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Findings from a new retrospective cohort study presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 74th Annual Scientific meeting in San Diego indicate that patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), especially ...
Melanoma treatment options one step closer
Oct 20, 2009 |
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A targeted chemotherapy for the treatment of skin cancer is one step closer, after a team of University of Alberta researchers successfully synthesized a natural substance that shows exceptional potential to specifically ...
Scientists develop novel method to generate functional hepatocytes for drug testing
Oct 20, 2009 |
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Scientists have for the first time produced liver cells from adult skin cells using the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology.
Resident physicians seldom trained in skin cancer examination
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Many resident physicians are not trained in skin cancer examinations, nor have they ever observed or practiced the procedure, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Dermatology.
