药学英语第五版原文翻译

Introduction to Physiology

Introduction

Physiology is the study of the functions of living matter. It is concerned with how an organism performs its varied activities: how it feeds, how it moves, how it adapts to changing circumstances, how it spawns new generations. The subject is vast and embraces the whole of life. The success of physiology in explaining how organisms perform their daily tasks is based on the notion that they are intricate and exquisite machines whose operation is governed by the laws of physics and chemistry.

Although some processes are similar across the whole spectrum of biology—the replication of the genetic code for or example—many are specific to particular groups of organisms. For this reason it is necessary to divide the subject into various parts such as bacterial physiology, plant physiology, and animal physiology.

To study how an animal works it is first necessary to know how it is built. A full appreciation of the physiology of an organism must therefore be based on a sound knowledge of its anatomy. Experiments can then be carried out to establish how particular parts perform their functions. Although there have been many important physiological investigations on human volunteers, the need for precise control over the experimental conditions has meant that much of our present physiological knowledge has been derived from studies on other animals such as frogs, rabbits, cats, and dogs. When it is clear that a specific physiological process has a common basis in a wide variety of animal species, it is reasonable to assume that the same principles will apply to humans. The knowledge gained from this approach has given us a great insight into human physiology and endowed us with a solid foundation for the effective treatment of many diseases.

The building blocks of the body are the cells, which are grouped together to form tissues. The principal types of tissue are epithelial, connective, nervous, and muscular, each with its own characteristics. Many connective tissues have relatively few cells but have an extensive extracellular matrix. In contrast, smooth muscle consists of densely packed layers of muscle cells linked together via specific cell junctions. Organs such as the brain, the heart, the lungs, the intestines, and the liver are formed by the aggregation of different kinds of tissues. The organs are themselves parts of distinct physiological systems. The heart and blood vessels form the cardiovascular system; the lungs, trachea, and bronchi together with the chest wall and diaphragm form the respiratory system; the skeleton and skeletal muscles form the musculoskeletal system; the brain, spinal cord, autonomic nerves and ganglia, and peripheral somatic nerves form the nervous system, and so on.

Cells differ widely in form and function but they all have certain common characteristics. Firstly, they are bounded by a limiting membrane, the plasma membrane. Secondly, they have the ability to break down large molecules to smaller ones to liberate energy for their activities.

生理学简介

介绍

生理学是研究生物体功能的科学。它研究生物体如何进行各种活动，如何饮食，如何运动，如何适应不断改变的环境，如何繁殖后代。这门学科包罗万象，涵盖了生物体整个生命过程。生理学成功地解释了生物体如何进行日常活动，基于的观点是生物体好比是结构复杂而灵巧的机器，其操作受物理和化学规律控制。

尽管从生物学整个范畴看，生物体某些活动过程是相似的——如基因编码的复制——但许多过程还是某些生物体群组特有的。鉴于此有必要将这门学科分成不同部分研究，如细菌生理学、植物生理学和动物生理学。

要研究一种动物如何活动，首先需要了解它的构成。要充分了解一个生物体的生理学活动就必须掌握全面的解剖学知识。一个生物体的各部分起着什么作用可通过实验观察得知。尽管我们对志愿者进行了许多重要的生理调查，但是实验条件需要精确控制，所以我们当前大多生理知识还是源于对其它动物如青蛙，兔子，猫和狗等的研究。当我们明确大多数动物物种的特定生理过程存在共同之处时，相同的生理原理适用于人类也是合理的。通过这种方法，我们获得了大量的知识，从而让我们对人类生理学有了更深入的了解，为我们有效治疗许多疾病提供了一个坚实的基础。

机体的基本组成物质是细胞，细胞结合在一起形成组织。组织的基本类型有上皮组织，结缔组织，神经组织和肌组织，每类组织都有各自的特征。许多结缔组织中细胞量相对较少，但是有大量的细胞外基质。相比而言，光滑的肌组织由大量密密麻麻的肌细胞通过特定的细胞连接组成。各种器官如脑，心脏，肺，小肠和肝等由不同种类的组织聚集而成。这些器官是不同生理系统的组成部分。心脏和血管组成心血管系统；肺，器官，支气管，胸壁和膈肌组成呼吸系统；骨骼和骨骼肌组成骨骼肌系统；大脑，脊髓，自主神经和神经中枢以及周围躯体神经组成神经系统等等。

细胞在形体和功能上差异很大，但是它们有某些共同的特征。第一，它们由限制