*ISLAMABAD- *An organ has been identified by scientists which might be the”biggest organ” in the human body. Interstitium was earlier thought to bewidespread, fluid-filled spaces within and between tissues all over thebody. A study published by Nature is the first to identify thesecompartments collectively as a new organ.
Interstitium would be the 80th organ in the human body. Before the study,it was thought that the connective tissue underneath the skin and liningother organs was a dense layer.
The study shows that the new human organ is actually a network ofcompartments filled with liquid. According to experts, these interstitialspaces are organized by a collagen “mesh” and can shrink and expand “andmay thus serve as shock absorbers.”
They also say that insterstitum spaces may play a crucial role in helpingcancer spread to different parts of the body making it metastatic.Metastasis is the medical term for cancer that spreads to a different partof the body from where it started.
When cancer enters this layer, in the skin or in the viscera, it is thenthat it starts spreading to other parts of the body.
Interstitial tissue and interstitial fluid were a known phenomenon.However, doctors say that its functionality had been underestimated. Thenew study provides fresh insights into the previously unrecognised featureof the body.
The human body has been studied through the ages. Till now, it was anestablished fact that it consisted of 79 organs. The most surprising aspectof this discovery is that it remained unknown for so many years.