I am a Licensed Practical Nurse with five years' experience in this profession. I believe it is essential to go back to the basics in all things in order to really understand them. I am fascinated by how our bodies work and I hope I can get my readers to share my fascination. I hope we all learn new things and marvel again at the things we already know. This feature -- which includes a closing section on how disease affects the topic in question -- will run on The Cancer Blog on Wednesdays, and The Cardio Blog and The Diabetes Blog on Thursdays. [The contents in this post are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional medical care.]
We start with the cell, because so much of what happens to us when we get sick, and how we get healthy again, can be explained by what happens on a cellular level. The cell is extremely complex and I will only touch on the basics in these posts, but at least we can have a rudimentary understanding.
We have discussed cell membranes (May 23), as well as cell organelles (May 30). Before we look at the nucleus of the cell, I would like to do a short post on some of the mechanisms for molecular movement across the cell membrane. Transport across the cell membrane is important to understand, because a lot of the newer research seems to focus on this aspect.
Living cells constantly interact with the external environment, like tissue or blood. In order to do that, materials must move through the plasma membrane, taking in some substances and secreting or excreting others. There are several methods by which movements can occur: diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, active transport, filtration, endocytosis and exocytosis. We will look at each of these briefly.
We start with the cell, because so much of what happens to us when we get sick, and how we get healthy again, can be explained by what happens on a cellular level. The cell is extremely complex and I will only touch on the basics in these posts, but at least we can have a rudimentary understanding.
We have discussed cell membranes (May 23), as well as cell organelles (May 30). Before we look at the nucleus of the cell, I would like to do a short post on some of the mechanisms for molecular movement across the cell membrane. Transport across the cell membrane is important to understand, because a lot of the newer research seems to focus on this aspect.Living cells constantly interact with the external environment, like tissue or blood. In order to do that, materials must move through the plasma membrane, taking in some substances and secreting or excreting others. There are several methods by which movements can occur: diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, active transport, filtration, endocytosis and exocytosis. We will look at each of these briefly.
