Question

This activity will give you an opportunity to consider how the organs in your body systems are (1) affected by aging, and (2) what they contribute to longevity. These are sort of the same question, however, your lifestyle and exposure to different diseases and life stresses can interject impacting circumstances.

Organ/Organ System	Function	Signs of Aging	Contribution to Longevity	Lifestyle Impact + and - effects

Answer 1

Organs/ Organ Systems	Function	Signs of aging
Eye	Vision	The lens become less flexible, so it cannot focus objects properly. The lens becomes cloudy due to cataract. Tear production by lacrimal gland may decrease or increase.
Cardiovascular System	Blood circulation Transport of nutrients, oxygen and hormones through blood.	Heart wall thickens with age. It become rigid. Slightly increases in size. Increase in artery wall thickness. Oxygen consumption decreases.
Lung	Respiration Gas exchange between blood and lung.	Trachea increases in size. chest wall thickens. Loss of lung elasticity. Decrease expiratory flow and increased closing volume.   Decrease in gas exchange. Decrease in respiratory muscle length.
Kidney	Excrete metabolic wastes in the form of urine.	Size and mass decreases. Numbers of glomeruli decreases. Filtration rate become low. Renal blood flow decreases.
Liver	Secretes bile, filter blood coming from digestive tract, removes toxic chemicals.	Size decreases. Hepatic blood flow decreases.
GI system	Intake of food, digestion of nutrients and removal of waste materials.	Xerostomia. Thinning of gastric mucosa. Gastric muscular atrophy. Stomach pH increase. Nutrients absorption decreases in small intestine.
Endocrine system	Produces hormones from several glands which regulates activity of several other glands ,tissues and cells.	Decrease in sex hormone production. Affected regulatory feedback mechanism. Receptor binding affinity decreases.
Immune system	Providing immunity against foreign materials or pathogens.	Antibody production decreases. Humoral immune response decreases. B cell count decreases.
Central Nervous system	Sesnory Response according to stimulus. Coordinate activity of all part of the body.	Brain mass decreases. cerebral blood flow decreases. serotonin system changed. Delayed response to a stimulus.