Organs and organ systems

Each body contains a variety of organs. Each of those organs has its own function. They work together and influence each other so that your body can function well and you stay healthy.

Some organs work together on the same task, such as the digestion of food. These organs, therefore, belong to the same organ system. Your body has eleven organ systems: the skeleton, the muscular system, the respiratory system (respiratory organs, throat and lungs), the heart and circulatory system, the digestive system (your oesophagus, stomach and intestines), the nervous system (your brain, spinal cord and nerves), the reproductive system (uterus, ovaries and testicles), the urinary system (your kidneys, urinary tract and bladder), the hormone system (including your thyroid gland, hypophysis (pituitary gland), etc.), the lymphatic system and the skin.

The following diseases or disorders involve a problem with an organ or organ system:

• the respiratory system: asthma, cystic fibrosis or CF
• the heart and circulatory system: heart defects
• the digestive system: Celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or IBD, cystic fibrosis or CF
• the reproductive system: Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, DSD
• the urinary system: kidney diseases
• the muscular system
• the lymphatic system
• the skin

Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, means that your pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Your pancreas forms a part of your digestive system and insulin forms a part of your hormone system. 

Thyroid gland
If you suffer from a thyroid disease, you produce too much or too little of the thyroid hormone. The thyroid gland forms a part of your hormone system.