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The Skeletal System serves many important functions; it provides the shape and form for our bodies in addition to supporting, protecting, allowing bodily movement, producing blood for the body, and storing minerals.
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Its 206 bones form a rigid framework to which the softer tissues and organs of the body are attached.
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Vital organs are protected by the skeletal system. The brain is protected by the surrounding skull as the heart and lungs are encased by the sternum and rib cage.
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Blood cells are produced by the marrow located in some bones. An average of 2.6 million red blood cells are produced each second by the bone marrow to replace those worn out and destroyed by the liver.
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Bones serve as a storage area for minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. When an excess is present in the blood, buildup will occur within the bones. When the supply of these minerals within the blood is low, it will be withdrawn from the bones to replenish the supply.
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The bones of the body fall into four general categories: long bones, short bones, flat bones, and irregular bones.
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Long bones are longer than they are wide and work as levers.
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The bones of the upper and lower extremities (ex. humerus, tibia, femur, ulna, metacarpals, etc.) are of this type.
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Short bones are short, cube-shaped, and found in the wrists and ankles.
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Flat bones have broad surfaces for protection of organs and attachment of muscles (ex. ribs, cranial bones, bones of shoulder girdle).
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Irregular bones are all others that do not fall into the previous categories. They have varied shapes, sizes, and surfaces features and include the bones of the vertebrae and a few in the skull.
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Bones are composed of tissue that may take one of two forms. Compact, or dense bone, and spongy, or cancellous, bone.Most bones contain both types.
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Compact bone is dense, hard, and forms the protective exterior portion of all bones. Spongy bone is inside the compact bone and is very porous (full of tiny holes). Spongy bone occurs in most bones.
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The bone tissue is composed of several types of bone cells embedded in a web of inorganic salts (mostly calcium and phosphorus) to give the bone strength, and collagenous fibers and ground substance to give the bone flexibility.
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