What are the 78 Organs In the Human Body

The human body is mainly composed of trillion cells which are considered as the fundamental unit of life.

The group of similar cells with similar functions forms a tissue. These tissues combine together to form organs and form an organ system, which finally gives rise to an individual.

How much do we really know about our own body? Any idea about how many organs we have?

Let’s have a detailed look at the different types of organs in the human body.

What is an Organ?

An organ is made up of the same type of tissues, which are well-organized to perform specific functions in all living things, including plants, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, mammals and humans.

Organs collectively form organ systems. These organs are macroscopic in structure. The brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys are a few examples of organs.

Human anatomy mainly deals with the study of the structure of the internal organs and physiology deals with the study of the functioning of the internal organs. The study of visceral organs is Splanchnology.

Read More: Human Body Structure

Types of Organs in a Human Body

Altogether there are seventy-eight main organs within the human body. These organs work in coordination to give rise to several organ systems. Among these 78 organs, five organs are considered vital for survival. These include the heart, brain, kidneys, liver and lungs. If any of these five organs stop functioning even for a few seconds death will result without any medical intervention. Therefore, it is always advised by the doctors to keep our system healthy, maintain a balanced diet, adequate sleep, regular physical activities and focus on healthy lifestyle changes.

Listed below are the tabular columns of 78 different types of organs of the human body.

Largest Organs In the Human Body

Based on the weight and the length of the body organs, they are classified as the longest organs in the human body. These organs are macroscopic and are involved in multiple functions.

Altogether, there are 10 large organs in the body, which include skin, liver, brain, lungs, heart, kidney, spleen, pancreas, thyroid and joints. A few of them are explained in detail below.

Skin

Skin is the largest external organ of the human body. It is a vital organ and provides outer covering, which protects from external elements. It also functions by protecting our internal organs from invading pathogens, regulates our body temperature and pH, prevents dehydration and also functions as the main sense organ. In both animals and humans, skin functions as a barrier between the outside and inside the environment. The skin acquires an area of 19 to 20 square feet on our body surface. Therefore, it is called the largest external organ of the human body.

Refer More: Structure and function of the skin

Liver

The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body, which weighs between 1.3 to 1.5 kg. The liver is located in the upper right portion of the abdomen and is the organ found only among the vertebrates. It is triangular, bilobed in structure and performs more than 500 functions, including blood clotting, protecting from the invading pathogens, synthesis of hormones and proteins and secretes various enzymes and chemicals.

Explore More: Largest organs in the human body

Major Organs of the Body

As discussed above, all 78 organs are important as they are associated with the specialized functions in our body. There are a few organs, which are very much essential for the survival of an individual, therefore, they are called the major or vital organs of the body. These organs are the hardest working organ in the human body, which functions 24 x 7.

Brain

It is the most complicated organ in our body. The human brain is located in our head and is surrounded by a strong bony structure, called the skull and is suspended in a layer of fluid called the cerebrospinal fluid, which functions by protecting the brain from minor mechanical shocks and jolts. The brain, along with the spinal cord, composes the central nervous system. It is responsible for thoughts, interpretation, regulation and control of body movements.

Refer more: Human Brain

Heart

The human heart is one of the most vital organs in the human body. The human heart keeps on beating until the death of an individual. On average, our heartbeats seventy times per minute, which is close to forty-two hundred times per hour and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood every day. Regarding the position, the human heart is located in the thoracic cavity medial to the lungs, slightly towards the left and behind the breastbone. Two-thirds of the heart is situated on the left side of the chest, and the remaining part is balanced on the right side of the chest. The average size of an adult heart is the size of our two hands clasped together and a child’s heart is about the size of a fist.

Refer more: Human heart

Lungs

Humans have a pair of lungs, which are situated within the thoracic cavity of the chest. Lungs play a major role in the respiratory system. In humans, a pair of lungs are structured in such a way that it facilitates the exchange of gases. They are lined by a thin membrane, the presence of bronchioles – the smaller tubes, alveoli – a balloon-like structure and the group of blood capillaries, which expands the surface area for the exchange of gases.

Refer more: Human Respiratory System

Pancreas

The pancreas is a vital part of the human digestive system and is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. It is an abdominal organ located behind the stomach and surrounded by the spleen, liver and small intestine. It is also involved in producing hormones, such as glucagon, insulin, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide and secreting digestive enzymes such as proteases, amylase and lipase into the duodenum.

Refer more: Pancreas

Kidneys

Kidneys are significant organ of the excretory system. They are bean-shaped structures located on either side of the backbone and are protected by the ribs and muscles of the back. It functions by filtering excess water and removing harmful toxins from the blood. Along with excretion, kidneys also produce a hormone called Renin, which regulates blood pressure.

Refer more: Human Excretory System

Eye

The eye is the specialized sense organ that helps us to perceive the world around us. They are the visual sensory organs in our body, which are sensitive to light images. The human eye is different compared to the animal’s eye. In structure, it is a spherical shaped organ, which is enclosed within the eye sockets in the skull and is anchored down by muscles within the sockets.

Refer more: Structure of an eye

Small intestine

The small intestine is the longest part of the alimentary canal and a part of the digestive system that runs between the stomach and large intestine. It is narrower than the large intestine and is responsible for the absorption of nutrients from the digested food, secretion of intestinal juice, receives bile juice from the liver and pancreatic juice from the pancreas.

Refer more: Small intestine

This article concludes an introduction to the 78 organs in the human body, which includes the largest organs and the major organs of the human body. To know more about the organs, organ system, their functions, other related topics and important questions, keep visiting our website at BYJU’S Biology.