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How to understand histologyBy Kenneth Wright

If you want to fix it, you have to know how its made

When something goes wrong with my car, I might open the hood and stare at thecars insides for a while. Sometimes I might tinker with things a little, try

tightening this or adjsting that, or look to see if I can find anything that is

!roken. Bt I cant really repair my car, !ecase I dont actally know mch ofanything a!ot how a car is made or how it works. So, when something goes

wrong with my car, I take it to an ato mechanic. "ow, in order for the ato

mechanic to !e a!le to repair my car, he or she needs to know e#erything a!otthe car $ how it works, what each part does, where each part is located, what each

part is made of, and what the symptoms are if a certain part isnt working

correctly.

%s health professionals, yo will !e mch like my ato mechanic friend. &eoplewill come to yo when something needs fi'ing (or may!e jst for a tne)p*. In

order to repair what needs fi'ing, yo ha#e to ha#e an in)depth nderstanding of

how the machine is made and how it works. Its not enogh to know the namesof !ones, mscles, arteries and organs. +o also need to know the components

that make p these !ones, mscles, arteries and organs. hese components, for

the most part, are microscopic. +o cant see them withot the aid of amicroscope. So, the prpose of stdying histology is to gi#e yo insight into the

actal composition of the organs yoll !e dealing with as health professionals.

Tissues - teamwork

"ow, imagine yorself stranded on a deserted island. -st yo. %ll !y yorself.

. In order to sr#i#e, there are lots of things yo will ha#e to learn to do. +o

will need to pro#ide yorself with food and water, some sort of shelter and

clothing, a way to eliminate waste, and a way to maintain yor sanity. +oll

need to !e a!le to reglate the temperatre so that yo dont o#erheat or freee todeath. +oll need to !e a!le to mo#e a!ot from place to place, and yo might

e#en try to find ways to commnicate with other creatres on yor island

(animals, plants* or may!e e#en with the otside world. Woldnt it !e easier if

yo had someone to share some of these tasks with/ If yo had another personwho cold take care of finding or raising food, then yo cold focs on making

and maintaining a shelter. If there were a third person, that person cold !eassigned to seeking sorces of fresh water, or protecting yo from wild animals.%nd another person cold !e responsi!le for !ilding and maintaining a latrine.

Soon, if these other people were there to help yo, yod ha#e a little commnity,

with division of labor$ each person assigned to his or her own jo!, so that as yoall work together, e#erything that needs to get done willget done. hats kind of

how a city works. In a city, rather than each person ha#ing to do e#erything for

herself, different people ha#e different roles. Some people make and maintain

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streets and p!lic tilities, some look after the safety of the commnity, some

pro#ide food, clothing, and other needed goods. Some take care of financial

needs0 others !ild !ildings, or sell homes. %nd some e#en pro#ide forentertainment. With all these people working together, each doing his or her

special jo!, the commnity has its needs met, and also has leisre time1

We#e jst descri!ed the cells and tissuesthat make p an organism, a hman. %

tisse is a commnity of cells working together for some common goal. %s yo

know from yor college !iology corses, some organisms are made p of singlecells $ e.g. a paramecium, euglena, amoeba, etc. 2ach of these single)celled

organisms is responsi!le to o!tain food, eliminate waste, o!tain o'ygen and get

rid of car!on dio'ide, reprodce, commnicate with other organisms, protect

itself, etc. In other words, each single)celled organism has to do all the thingsre3ired to live. -st like yo when yo were alone on a deserted island. Bt

wasnt it mch easier when yo shared yor island with other people who cold

help yo with all the tasks re3ired to stay ali#e/ hats tre of cells as well. %n

organism sch as a hman is actally a #ery large colony made p of trillions ofcells which all ha#e different jo!s that are re3ired to keep yo, the organism,

ali#e and well. 4ather than e#ery single cell ha#ing to do e#ery single jo!, cells!ecome specialied, so that each type of cell has a different jo! to do. Whats

more, jst as large cities will ha#e financial districts, and shopping districts, and

entertainment districts, etc., cells organie themsel#es into organs where, withineach organ, thosands of similar cells work together doing the same task on a

scale large enogh to make the organism fnction effecti#ely. So we ha#e tisses

that digest food, tisses that are in#ol#ed in o!taining and transporting o'ygen

and car!on dio'ide, tisses in#ol#ed in eliminating wastes, tisses in#ol#ed inreprodction, and tisses that act as go#ernment agents, to control e#erything and

make sre the commnity is safe and rnning smoothly.

Morphology indicates function

"ow yo woldnt e'pect an ato mechanic, a medical doctor, a gardener and a

!allerina to all dress in the same way or se the same tools. 2ach profession hasits own way of dressing, its own #oca!lary, its own set of skills and tools needed

to get the jo! done. In the same way, cells specialie. 2ach cell looks different

from other types of cells, has a different set of tools, a different morphology. -st

as yo can tell a lot a!ot a persons jo! !y looking at how that person dresses orwhat kinds of tools that person ses, so yo can tell a lot a!ot what a cell does !y

stdying the morphology of the cell. 5orphology incldes the sie and shape of acell, the way it stains when yo se certain dyes, the special featres that yo cansee on the otside or on the inside of the cell.

In this corse, I hope to teach yo how to identify cells !y the way they are

stained, the way they are dressed, !y the way they look and where they are

located, !y their sie and shape. +o can figre ot a lot a!ot what a cell does

!y its morphology. -st like it is pretty easy to tell the difference !etween an

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airline pilot, a flight attendant, a nrse, a waitress, a foot!all player, a cheerleader,

a priest, an ato mechanic, a !siness e'ecti#e and a cow!oy !y the way they

dress, yo will learn how to tell the difference !etween a fi!ro!last, a netrophil,an osteoclast, and amelo!last, a lymphocyte, a mast cell, and a skeletal mscle

cell !y the way they look and where they are located. %t first it will pro!a!ly

seem confsing and difficlt, !t if yo look at what makes each type of cell andtisse ni3e, soon yoll !e #ery proficient at telling the difference !etween

!one, li#er, !lood, pancreas, tonsils, cartilage, colon, sali#ary glands, and

psedostratified ciliated colmnar epithelim with go!let cells1 he importantthing is to note the unique featuresof each cell and tisse type, and what makes

it different from other types of cells or tisses.

+oll ha#e to spend time with the tisses, and yoll want to make the

microscope yor friend1 %s yo learn a!ot a new cell or tisse, make a note of

the following things6

7ow does it stain/ What is its relati#e sie/

What is its shape/

Where is it located/

What special featres distingish it from other cells or tisses/

What is its fnction/

7ow does it contri!te to the o#erall fnction of the hman !ody/

Understanding

If yo can keep these perspecti#es, rather than jst trying to memorie a list of words or a

page of notes, then hopeflly yoll gain understandingof the cell or tisse. 7istologyactally is #ery cool, and learning histology is actally fn. It might seem danting atfirst !t if yo go into the stdy of histology with prpose, and know what to look for,

yoll find it #ery rewarding. %nd !elie#e it or not, it will actally make yo a mch

!etter health professional !ecase yoll nderstand how the !ody works at a mchdeeper and more !asic le#el, which will gi#e yo !etter insights into the disease process,

and into the action of medications.

So 25B4%82 histology1 %fter all, its what yore made of1

%"9, if yo are ha#ing a hard time grasping concepts, come and ask for help. hats

what Im here for1