Jonah Valenzuela

10/16/13
There are many different organs in the human body. Each are made up of tissues put
together and all serve a function for the body to function. For example the kidneys are a pair of
orange organs. You can find them on the side of the spine. They are behind the liver and the
stomach. Their main job is to take waste away from the body. They do this through making urine.
There are only two major sets of organs in the body. The kidneys and the lungs. ts kind
of like having a backup incase one failed. These are called redundant systems. Organs are
made of tissues, which are made of cells, which are made of molecules which are made of
atoms.
Cells function in the lungs. For example in the lungs cells Alveoli exchange bad air for
good air. n each organ there are different cells that perform jobs unique to the organ they are
working in. When cells with the same function come together they form a tissue. There are four
different types of tissues. Connective tissue which can be found in blood and bones and it helps
and puts body parts together. Epithellal tissue, This tissue lines organs and covers the body.
Muscle tissue is a tissue that is found in muscles. This tissue allows your body to move by
contraction and relaxation. Nerve tissue forms nerves and sends impulses.
Two or possibly more tissues working together form a organ. There are also organs that
work together as a whole. These are called organ systems. For example: Them mouth
,esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine are all part of the digestive system.
The digestive system breaks down food into nutrients. Then the nutrients can be transported
through our blood streams.
We could not live without our organs. They perform everything necessary for our bodies
to function. Blood also plays important roles for our organs. t can also cause problems for us as
well if we have high blood pressure. So if the vessels carrying blood are blocked or popped.
For example if a person has high blood pressure and a weak blood vessel in there brain
and that vessel pops you have a stroke. You could also have a stroke if one of your blood
vessels was clogged. When either of these situations happen not enough blood and oxygen is
getting to the brain so that part of the brain starts to die. The brain controls many things like your
vision, personality, body movement, and more... So any of these very important things can be
effected by a stroke.
The heart takes a big part in us living. t circulates blood through the body. The walls are
made up of muscles that can contract when the heart beats and send out blood. The heart is
divided into chambers. Organs in the body need blood to function.
(Blood carries oxygen, Sugar, Carbon Dioxide, vitamins, hormones, and, chemical
substances as it travels through the human body.) So as said before organs need blood. For
example: 15-20% of the body's blood goes to the brain. Brain cells would die if they did not get
enough blood. The blood does not only give to the brain but it also takes away. Blood gives your
brain glucose which the brain uses for power. Kind of like fuel.
Blood is constantly supplied to the brain. Neurons need the glucose because they cannot
store it. The brain is made up of many parts. Some main parts of the brain include the
Thalamus, Lateral ventricle, Corpus callosum, Gyri, Sulcus, Hypothalamus, Olfactory Bulb,
Optic Chiasma, Pons, Cerebellum, Medulla, etc. Each of these parts of the brain have many
responsibilities.
For example: the Medulla controls respiration, heart rate, and the process of digestion.
Another example is the Cerebellum. The Cerebellum controls many aspects of movement. t
stores sequences of movement, helps coordinate and fine tune movement made in the brain.
Then the cerebellum puts the two together and we move. t is known to be like a mini brain in the
back of our brains.
Surprisingly the trachea is also considered an organ. The trachea is the "pipe of which air
comes in and out of our body. t is also known as the wind pipe. The trachea is about four inches
long and less than an inch in diameter. The Trachea is composed of approximately 20 rings or
strong cartilage. Behind each piece of cartilage there is connective tissue and muscle. The
tissue is smooth and moist. The tissue is called Mucosa. Your kidneys filters blood from the
heart.
Many things go wrong when people have cardiovascular disease. Like mentioned earlier
you can possibly have a stroke because of high blood pressure. This is because a vessel could
pop in your brain or become clogged. Then the blood that was suppose to get to a certain part of
the brain can not get there and that part of the brain begins to die. Also if you have an over active
renin angiotensin system (RAS) you start to get kidney problems because cells may grow to
slow or too fast which causes blood clots, inflammation, and arteries begin to harden. This can
cause many problems.
For example not enough blood reaching the heart which causes heart attacks. High
blood pressure also makes these things called tears in your vessels which makes scars which
causes your vessels walls to harden. This leads to not enough blood getting to organs. This can
be the cause of both heart and kidney failure. t is vital that many organs in your body receive
blood and stopping that blood from getting to them causes many problems and possibly kills
parts of them. So basicly the organs are not the ones causing the problems its the fact that the
vessels get clogged or pop and the blood can not reach the organs which then can not function
right because of its lack of substances it needs to function obtained in the blood.
There is a lot being researched right now in terms of cardiovascular disease. There has
been more research for how surgery should be done and there has been a big increase of
surviving patients and surgery is still changing for the good. Research on how to prevent and
treat cardiovascular disease is still going on. A lot of research on how to prevent and cure
cardiovascular disease has already been done though. But we can still improve. Scientists right
now are trying to figure out how atherosclerosis works. This is when valves build up fat or
become inflamed inside the vessel walls.
They hope cures and therapies will come out of researching this topic more. The topic of fake
organs is a big one right now as well. People have also been starting to grow organs! which
think is pretty crazy. A Japanese man and his team recently mixed three cell types. Adult bone
marrow stem cells, adult stem cells engineered for a human liver, and stem cells from a human
umbilical cord.
The cells organized themselves into a liver bud. He then put it into a mouse and it fully
functioned perfectly. The Japanese mans name is Takanori Takebe. There are 118,647 people
on the waiting list for new organs in the United States. This man wants to in the future put these
grown livers in humans and not fully replace the liver but restore up to thirty percent of the liver
functions. He hopes to create a full liver but also create other organs and he believes this to be
very possible.
You also can have cells injected into you to reform organs. This is called stem cell
therapy. There has been about 11 stem cell therapies that have been approved by the FDA. The
therapy must first be approved by the FDA before it can be put into use. Many stem cell
therapies for cardiovascular disease are in trial phase in the U.S.
Stem cells need a lot of blood constantly, so many of them die when inserted. So this
therapy is very complicated. Stem cells are unprogrammed cells that can change into other cells
and can reproduce forever. They are basically like repairmen and fix what we want them
too.There are many other things that could happen to the cells. The bodies immune system
could force them out and more. But the study of this therapy is moving very fast. Faster than
anyone expected it too so that is great news.
A lot of therapies for cardiovascular disease have already been found. Changing your
lifestyles helps. Eating a low fat and low sodium diet helps. Exercising 30 minutes a day not
smoking and not drinking a lot of alcohol helps a lot as well. There are also medications you can
take to lower your blood pressure as well.
You also can have surgery to clear blood blockage in your heart. A procedure called
coronary angioplasty is a way to clear blockages. This is performed by putting a small balloon in
the blocked artery called a catheter and then you inflate the balloon and the artery is opened up
and blood can flow. Some people's hearts beat to fast (this is called heart arrhythmia) and there
are ways to slow your heart down. some of which are holding your breath and straining,
coughing, and dunking your face in ice water.
These to me sound weird because would never guess dunking my face in ice water is
beneficial for my health. One of the most interesting therapies for organs harmed by
cardiovascular disease is the research of fake hearts. Some patients can not survive the wait for
a donor heart so they are made a artificial heart that can keep them alive until a heart is available.
One of the best known devices is the Jarvik-7. The Jarvik-7's actions are very similar to a human
heart. One big difference is the heart is alive and a muscle and the fake heart is made of man
made materials that are not living and needs some source of power that is external from the
human.
A lot of research has already been done in cardiovascular deises because of how many
people it affects. One interesting cure someone found was how to clear blood clots in legs. A
solution was found to clear blood clots in the legs. You have to get a fiber-binding thrombolytic
injected into your leg or laced.
Contacts
DanieI BIanchard, MD
Director, CardiovascuIar Diseases FeIIowship Program
emaiI: dbIanchard@ucsd.edu
Lauren Kaufman
Program Coordinator, CardiovascuIar Diseases FeIIowship Program
emaiI: Iekaufman@ucsd.edu
Phone: 858-657-5328
Eric David AdIer, MD
Contact Information
UC San Diego Medical Center
402 Dickenson Street #8411
San Diego, CA 92103
Denise DayIe Barnard, MD
Ori Ben-Yehuda, MD
Contact Information
Division of Cardiology
University of California, San Diego
200 West Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92103-8411
ph (619)543-7751
fx (619)543-5576
obenyehuda@ucsd.edu
UIrika Birgersdotter-Green, MD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr MC 7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037
ubgreen@ucsd.edu
DanieI BIanchard, MD
Contact Information
PerIman CardioIogy CIinic
9350 Campus Point Drive, Suite 1D
La JoIIa, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 657-8530
Fax: (858) 657-8021
Luis CasteIIanos, MD, MPH
Contact Information
Fourth & Lewis MedicaI Office
UCSD MedicaI Offices
330 Lewis Street
3 rd FIoor
San Diego, CA 92103
Ju Chen, PhD
Contact Information
Department of Medicine
University of CaIifornia, San Diego
La JoIIa, CA 92093-0641
Phone: (858)822-4276
juchen@ucsd.edu
Vincent Chen, MD, PhD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
9444 MedicaI Center Dr. MC 7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037
hsv_chen@burnham.org
Bruno R. Cotter, MD
Contact Information
UC, San Diego
9444 MedicaI Center Drive, #7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037
ph (858)657-5378
bcotter@ucsd.edu
Lori DanieIs, MD
Contact Information
SuIpizio CardiovascuIar Center
9434 MedicaI Center Drive
La JoIIa, CA 92093
Anthony DeMaria, MD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr., #7411
San Diego, CA 92037-7411
Phone: (858) 450-9005
ademaria@ucsd.edu
SyIvia Evans, PhD
Contact Information
TeIephone:
(858) 822-2452
EmaiI:
syevans@ucsd.edu
Gregory FeId, MD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
SuIpizio CardiovascuIar Center
9444 MedicaI Center Dr MC 7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037
gfeId@ucsd.edu
Barry H. Greenberg, MD
Contact Information
UC San Diego MedicaI Center
9444 MedicaI Center Dr., #7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037-7411
Phone: 858-657-5267
bgreenberg@ucsd.edu
CIinic Phone: 858-657-8530
Jonathan Hsu, MD, MAS
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr MC 7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037
Jonathan.Hsu@ucsd.edu
Andrew Kahn, MD, PhD
Contact Information
UC San Diego MedicaI Center
200 W. Arbor Drive, #8411
San Diego, CA 92103-8411
Phone: (619)543-8213
akahn@ucsd.edu
Kirk U. KnowIton, MD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
200 W. Arbor Drive, #8411
San Diego, CA 92103-8411
ph (619)471-9040
kknowIton@ucsd.edu
Ehtisham Mahmud, MD
Assistant: Jamie Martin, 858-657-8030
AIan S. MaiseI, M.D.
Contact Information
VA San Diego HeaIthcare System
3350 La JoIIa ViIIage Drive
CardioIogy Section, mc 9111A
San Diego, CaIifornia 92161
Phone: (858) 552-8585, x7344
Fax: (858) 642-
amaiseI@ucsd.edu
Sanjiv M. Narayan, M.D., Ph.D.
Contact Information
UCSD SchooI of Medicine, VA MedicaI Center
Division of CardioIogy 111A
3350 La JoIIa ViIIage Drive
San Diego, CA 92161
Phone: (858) 642-1108
Fax: (858) 552-7490
EmaiI: snarayan@ucsd.edu
MituI PateI, MD, FACC
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr. #7411
La JoIIa, CA 2037-7411
Kirk L. Peterson, M.D
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
200 W. Arbor Drive, #8411
San Diego, CA 92103-8411
ph (619)543-5666
kIpeterson@ucsd.edu
Ajit B. Raisinghani, M.D.
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr, #7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037-7411
Assistant: BIanca Barba, 858-657-5322
Robert S. Ross, M.D.
Contact Information
VA San Diego HeaIthcare System
3350 La JoIIa ViIIage Drive
CardioIogy Section, 111A
San Diego, CaIifornia 92161
Phone: (858) 642-1138
Fax: (858) 642-1199
E-maiI: rross@ucsd.edu
Jorge E. SiIva Enciso, MD
Contact Information
HiIIcrest - MedicaI Offices South
4168 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92103
Sotirios "Sam" Tsimikas, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FSCAI
Contact Information
Division of CardiovascuIar Diseases, Department of Medicine
UCSD CardioIogy La JoIIa, PerIman AmbuIatory Center
9350 Campus Point Drive, La JoIIa, CA 92037-0975
Phone: (858)657-8530
Fax: (858)657-8723
stsimikas@ucsd.edu
Francisco J. ViIIarreaI, M.D., PhD
Contact Information
9500 GiIman Drive
San Diego, CA 92093-0613
Office Phone 858 534 3630
Fax: 858 534 0522
EmaiI: fviIIarr@ucsd.edu
Thomas J. WaItman, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Contact Information
University of CaIifornia San Diego
9350 Campus Point Drive
La JoIIa, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 657-8530
Fax: (858) 657-8695
twaItman@ucsd.edu
JoeI WiIson, MD
Contact Information
UCSD MedicaI Center
Division of CardiovascuIar Medicine
9444 MedicaI Center Dr. #7411
La JoIIa, CA 92037-7411
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