Life Science- Musculoskeletal System Flashcards
Main organs
Muscles, bones, ligaments, cartilage and tendons.
Muscles
Made of strings of muscle cells called muscle fibers. They can get shorter so that the ends of the muscle pull towards each other.
Bones
206 bones that make up the skeleton. Hard and stiff, but thru have joint at their ends which help with movement.
Ligaments
Very strong tissues that hold two bones together in a joint.
Cartilage
Rubbery tissue that holds parts of the skeleton together and reduces friction at the joints when the bones rub against each other.
Tendons
Attach muscles to bones. When muscles contract and get shorter, they pull on the bone to make it move.
Processes
Locomotion and movement (contraction and relaxation)
Locomotion and movement
The upper and lower limbs allow for locomotion and movement, of arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers and toes.
Muscles work in pairs (antagonistic). When one contracts, the other relaxes.
Example: biceps and triceps of the upper arm are antagonistic. Each muscle moves the bones in opposite directions when they contract.
Health issues
Rickets, arthritis and osteoporosis.
Rickets
A disease in children caused by a shortage of vitamin D, which makes bones bend and become deformed. Your body can make its own vitamin D by exposing the skin to sunlight or by eating dairy products, fish and cereals. Signs in babies include: a soft spot on the baby’s head, bony ‘necklace’, curved bones, big lumpy joints and bowed legs (knees bent out).
Arthritis
Cause when cartilage covering the ends of bones at the joints breaks down and becomes very thin. The joints swell and become very stiff and sore. In some cases the joints become deformed.
Osteoporosis
As a person gets older, their bones lose large amounts of their proteins and calcium. This loss causes the bones to become spongy and very fragile, and they can break easily.
