Organic+Chemistry+and+the+Human+Body

   Importance of Organic Chemistry in the Human Body  -Roughly 96 percent of the mass of the human body is made up of just four elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, with a lot of that in the form of water. The remaining 4 percent is a sparse sampling of the [|periodic table of elements].  **Oxygen (65%) and hydrogen (10%) ** are predominantly found in [|water], which makes up about 60 percent of the body by weight. It's practically impossible to imagine [|life without water].


 * Carbon (18%) ** is synonymous with life. Its central role is due to the fact that it has four bonding sites that allow for the building of long, complex chains of molecules. Moreover, carbon bonds can be formed and broken with a modest amount of energy, allowing for the dynamic organic chemistry that goes on in our cells.


 * Nitrogen (3%) ** is found in many organic molecules, including the amino acids that make up proteins, and the nucleic acids that make up DNA.


 * Calcium (1.5%) ** is the most common mineral in the human body — nearly all of it found in bones and teeth. Ironically, calcium's most important role is in bodily functions, such as muscle contraction and protein regulation. In fact, the body will actually pull calcium from bones (causing problems like osteoporosis) if there's not enough of the element in a person's diet.


 * Phosphorus (1%) ** is found predominantly in bone but also in [|the molecule ATP], which provides energy in cells for driving chemical reactions.


 * Potassium (0.25%) ** is an important [|electrolyte] (meaning it carries a charge in solution). It helps regulate the heartbeat and is vital for electrical signaling in nerves.

**<span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Sulfur (0.25%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is found in two amino acids that are important for giving proteins their shape.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Sodium (0.15%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is another electrolyte that is vital for electrical signaling in nerves. It also regulates the amount of water in the body.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Chlorine (0.15%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is usually found in the body as a negative ion, called chloride. This electrolyte is important for maintaining a normal balance of fluids.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Magnesium (0.05%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> plays an important role in the structure of the skeleton and muscles. It also is necessary in more than 300 essential metabolic reactions.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Iron (0.006%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is a key element in the metabolism of almost all living organisms. It is also found in hemoglobin, which is the oxygen carrier in red blood cells. Half of women don't get enough iron in their diet.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Fluorine (0.0037%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is found in teeth and bones. Outside of preventing tooth decay, it does not appear to have any importance to bodily health.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Zinc (0.0032%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is an essential trace element for all forms of life. Several proteins contain structures called "zinc fingers" help to regulate genes. Zinc deficiency has been known to lead to dwarfism in developing countries.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Copper (0.0001%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is important as an electron donor in various biological reactions. Without enough copper, iron won't work properly in the body.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Iodine (0.000016%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">is required for making of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolic rate and other cellular functions. Iodine deficiency, which can lead to goiter and brain damage, is an important health problem throughout much of the world.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Selenium (0.000019%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is essential for certain [|enzymes], including several anti-oxidants. Unlike animals, plants do not appear to require selenium for survival, but they do absorb it, so there are several cases of selenium poisoning from eating plants grown in selenium-rich soils.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Chromium (0.0000024%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> helps regulate sugar levels by interacting with insulin, but the exact mechanism is still not completely understood.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Manganese (0.000017%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is essential for certain enzymes, in particular those that protect [|mitochondria] — the place where usable energy is generated inside cells — from dangerous oxidants.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Molybdenum (0.000013%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is essential to virtually all life forms. In humans, it is important for transforming sulfur into a usable form. In nitrogen-fixing bacteria, it is important for transforming nitrogen into a usable form.


 * <span style="background: navy; color: yellow; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Cobalt (0.0000021%) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> is contained in vitamin B12, which is important in protein formation and DNA regulation.