10.1: CASE STUDY: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BODY
CASE STUDY: UNDER PRESSURE
Looking at the photo of a football game in Figure 10.1.1, you can see
why it is so important that the players wear helmets because players may
fall on their heads or on top of each other's heads. Football often involves
forceful impact to the head as players tackle each other. This can cause
damage to the brain — either temporarily as in the case of a concussion,
or long-term and more severe types of damage. Helmets are critical to
reducing the incidence of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), but they do not
fully prevent them.
Figure 10.1.2 . Comparison of an infant with (on the right) and without
hydrocephalus (on the left). The ventricles (shown in blue-gray) are
located inside of the brain (shown in pink). Ventricles are enlarged in the
infant with hydrocephalus.
Hydrocephalus often occurs at birth, due to genetic factors or events that
occurred during fetal development. Because babies are born with skull
bones that are not fully fused, the skull of a baby born with hydrocephalus
can expand and relieve some of the pressure on the brain, as reflected in
the enlarged head size shown above. But adults have fully fused,
inflexible skulls, so when hydrocephalus occurs in an adult, the brain
experiences all of the increased pressure.
Figure 10.1.1 :Football players
Take the example of 43-year-old Dayo. As a former professional football
player who also played in college and high school, Dayo sustained many
high-impact head injuries over the course of their football playing years.
Dayo prefers they/ them pronouns. A few years ago, Dayo began
experiencing a variety of troubling symptoms, including the loss of
bladder control (i.e. the involuntary leakage of urine), memory loss, and
difficulty in walking. Symptoms such as these are often signs of damage
to the nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and nerves,
but they can result from many different types of injuries or diseases that
affect the nervous system. In order to treat Dayo properly, their doctors
needed to do several tests to determine the exact cause of their symptoms.
These included a spinal tap to see if they had an infection, and an MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging) to see if there were any problems with their
brain structure.
Why did Dayo develop hydrocephalus? There are many possible causes
of hydrocephalus in adults, including tumors, infections, hemorrhages,
and TBIs. Given their repeated and long history of TBIs due to football,
and the absence of any evidence of infection, tumor, or other cause,
Dayo’s doctor thinks their head injuries were most likely responsible for
their hydrocephalus.
Although hydrocephalus is serious, there are treatments. Read the rest of
this chapter to learn about the cells, tissues, organs, cavities, and systems
of the body, how they are interconnected, and the importance of keeping
the body in a state of homeostasis, or balance. The amount of
cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles is normally kept at a relatively steady
level, and the potentially devastating symptoms of hydrocephalus are an
example of what can happen when a system in the body becomes
unbalanced. At the end of the chapter, you will learn about Dayo’s
treatment and prognosis.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW: INTRODUCTION TO THE
HUMAN BODY
The MRI revealed the cause of Dayo’s symptoms. There are fluid-filled
spaces within the brain called ventricles, and Dayo’s ventricles were In this chapter, you will learn about the general organization and
enlarged compared to normal ventricles. Based on this observation functions of the human body. Specifically, you will learn about:
combined with the results of other tests, Dayo’s doctor diagnosed them
The organization of the body from atoms and molecules up through
with hydrocephalus, a term that literally means “water head.”
cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems.
Hydrocephalus occurs when the fluid that fills the ventricles, called
How organ systems work together to carry out the functions of life.
cerebrospinal fluid, builds up excessively. This causes the ventricles to
The variety of different specialized cell types in humans, the four
become enlarged and puts pressure on the brain, which can cause a
major types of human tissues, and some of their functions.
variety of neurological symptoms including the ones Dayo was
What organs are and the 11 major organ systems of the human body.
experiencing. You can see the difference between normal ventricles and
Spaces in the body called body cavities, and the organs they hold and
ventricles that are enlarged due to hydrocephalus in the illustration below.
protect.
Notice how the brain becomes “squeezed” due to hydrocephalus in the
The tissues and fluid that protect the brain and spinal cord.
image on the right.
How organ systems communicate and interact in body processes such
as cellular respiration, digestion, the fight-or-flight response to
stressors, and physical activities such as sports.
How homeostasis is maintained to keep the body in a relatively steady,
and the problems that can be caused by loss of homeostasis, such as
10.1.1
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ATTRIBUTIONS
diabetes.
As you read the chapter, think about the following questions:
1. What is the normal function of cerebrospinal fluid?
2. What is a spinal tap and how does it test for infection?
3. In Dayo’s case, what organs and organ systems are probably affected
by their hydrocephalus? What are some ways in which these organ
systems interact?
4. The level of cerebrospinal fluid is normally kept in a state of
homeostasis. What are other examples of types of homeostasis that
keep your body functioning properly?
1. Army vs. Navy Football game by U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s
Mate 2nd Class Jayme Pastoric, public domain via Wikimedia
Commons
2. Hydrocephalus by CDC released into the public domain via
Wikimedia Commons
3. Text adapted from Human Biology by CK-12 licensed CC BY-NC 3.0
This page titled 10.1: Case Study: Getting to Know Your Body is shared under a
CK-12 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Suzanne Wakim &
Mandeep Grewal via source content that was edited to the style and standards of
the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.
10.1.2
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