Expert: Walter Hintz - 8/24/2005

Question
How many organs are there in the human body? I tried counting them system by system and excluding those that overlapped (like the pancreas) but that left out the appendix and even the eyes. Also, do ligaments and tendons and such count as organs? How do you decide which are organs and which are just components of the system? I'm assuming that this is just one of those questions that doesn't have a definite answer but I was just wondering if there is some "official" number for how many organs we have. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Brenda:
 This is a problem. Medical dictionaries define an organ as a relatively independent part of the body that carries out 1 or more special functions.  Lists of internal organs usually list 22.  The skin would make 23.  Eyes and ears are certainly organs and in the skin are sense organs.  So there isn't a definite answer or an official answer.