Spleen: secret and explicit functions

No matter how far the medical science has gone since the time of Hippocrates, Paracelsus and Galen, and still there are still secrets of the structure of the human body, which the man himself has not fully comprehended. Not only the causes of individual diseases and methods of their treatment, but even the purpose of some organs is still not fully understood. It is to this that the spleen belongs - its functions are defined, but mostly they are duplicated by other organs, and it is unclear what is its exclusivity. And the main mystery is why the removal of the spleen minimally affects the general condition of the body and does not entail any serious functional changes. Really, as in the more well-known case of appendicitis, did nature allow for some excess?

Not every person knows where the spleen is. In general, it is not surprising - this organ is small in size, weighs 150-200 grams and disappears under the ribs, near the left kidney and just above the stomach. Its oval, oblate form resembles the ear. He leads himself quietly and imperceptibly, only occasionally can remind himself of himself, for example, with intensive exercises (in such cases they say: "the spleen is ticking"). Its functions are completely unobservable, and if we hear from time to time about other internal organs even on a preventive examination with a doctor, not to mention in-depth examinations, the spleen remains a "figure of silence". By the way, her own diseases are quite rare, but secondary lesions happen more often than other neighbors inside the human body.

Anatomy of the spleen is intricate - although outwardly it does not look like a complex organ, but consists of several different types of tissue. It seems to be contained in a capsule of dense tissue, and inside it is a pulp called a pulp, which is delineated in red and white. The red pulp is filled with the uniform elements of the blood, and white is the lymphoid tissue. And between them there is also the so-called marginal zone, in which defective cells accumulate and macrophages responsible for antibacterial protection are collected.

Such mysterious contents have a mysterious spleen. Its functions are precisely determined by such a structure. It detains circulating antigens in the blood, filters out bacteria, viruses, microbes and other debris and produces antibodies and lymphocytes that protect the body from various diseases. It also determines the "out-of-date" blood cells in the bloodstream and "utilizes" them. Serves the spleen and a kind of accumulator of blood released during acute blood loss, and iron used to produce hemoglobin.

Why does the human body not suffer in those cases when, for medical reasons, the spleen is removed from it? Its functions are taken over by the lymph nodes and, it must be admitted, they are remarkably good at dealing with them.

So are the ancient physicians right who removed the spleen athletes from the athletes, so as not to "ekala" and prevent them from conquering laurel wreaths? Modern physicians say that their predecessors in this case all the same got excited. Not only is it very doubtful that the absence of the spleen can affect the running speed, so even in humans, when the body is removed, the immune system weakens somewhat. Still, the more organs are engaged in filtering blood and neutralizing numerous enemies of the body, the better. So in our time to remove resorted only in cases of injuries, and with certain specific diseases of the blood. And as for the spleen diseases themselves, its infarction is a rare and not painful process, from which the body is cured, most often, independently. And secondary diseases, which, as we have already mentioned, the spleen is prone to, are treated together with the main diseases.