The Integumentary System
Functions
The Integumentary System is meant to protect your body from chemicals, disease, physical damage, and UV lights with your skin. Hair and nails protect your skin from environmental damage and reinforce it. The exocrine glands moisturize, protect, and cool your skin by producing sweat, oil, and wax.
The Main Parts
The Integumentary System consists mainly of skin, hair, nails, and endocrine glands that all have a role in protecting the rest of your bod from the environment.
Working With Other Body Systems
In order to survive and stay healthy, our body systems of different functions work together. Two of the many systems the Integumentary System works with are the Circulatory and Muscular Systems. The Integumentary System works with the Muscular by coating it in skin that protect in from the outside environment. The Circulatory System works with the Integumentary by transporting the nutrients needed to the skin cells and repairing any cuts made to the skin.
Medical Conditions
There are many medical disorders found in the Integumentary System. There is skin cancer, warts, moles, acne (disorder of hair and oil glands common in adolescents), vitiligo, and eczema (red, itchy, flaky skin).
Fun Facts
Your skin sheds every month, so you have a new layer of skin every month.
The average person sheds approximately 40 lbs. of skin in their lifetime!
Your head has about 120,000 strands of hair in it!
The average person sheds approximately 40 lbs. of skin in their lifetime!
Your head has about 120,000 strands of hair in it!