NSG 2317 Chapter 13: chapter 13 skin, hair, nails summary
15 Dec 2016
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Think of the skin as the body"s largest organ system . The skin is the sentry that guards the body from environmental stresses and adapts it. It covers 1. 86 square meters of sa in the average adult to other environmental influences . There are two layers: the outer highly differentiated epidermis and the inner supportive dermis . O underneath is the third layer known as the subcutaneous layer of adipose tissue . The inner basal layer (stratum germinativum) forms new skin cells . Its cells are bound tightly together into sheets that form a rugged protective barrier . O the melanocytes interspersed along this layer produce the pigment melanin, which gives the skin and hair their brown tones. O all people have the same amount of melanocytes, but the amount of melanin they produce varies with genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences. From the basal layer, new cells migrate up and flatten into the stratum corneum .
