Bones, Muscles and Their Aging Process
Bones, Muscles and their Aging Process Isabella A. Guidotti ITT-Technical Institute Breckenridge School of Nursing
Author Note This paper was prepared for Human Anatomy & Physiology, GE258, taught by Dr. Juan Osvaldo Garcia, MD. Bones, Muscles and their Aging Process The human skeleton provides support and structure to the body. As a child we are born with about 300 bones. Once we become adults, the body has 206 bones. The reason why we are born with more bones is because as we age, some bones combine together to form a solid structure. Also as we mature, the postures in our bodies change, bone density can start to vanish, and the spine vertebrae’s can compress which triggers the trunk to appear shorter. Muscles also change as we age. There are more than 600 muscles in the human body. Muscles vary from smooth to cardiac to skeletal muscles. They do everything from pump blood into the body to control movement in certain parts of the body. As we grow older, muscles may lose their density, flexibility and tone. Ossification is the process by which bones are formed and there are two types of bone formations. According to our Wiley textbook “Intramembranous ossification, one of the types of bone formations, happens when osseous tissue forms directly within mesenchyme arranged in sheet like layers that resemble membranes. In the second method, endochondral ossification, osseous tissue forms within hyaline cartilage that develops from mesenchyme.” Intramembranous being the simplest type of bone formation. As people age, the bone density that we once had starts to diminish, known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones, more common in women, where you loose bone density. This disease causes bones to become weak and can break easily. This is dangerous for elderly people because a simple fracture can cause many difficulties for them known as the 3 C’s for Dr. Garcia. The reason why we cannot stop the
Author Note This paper was prepared for Human Anatomy & Physiology, GE258, taught by Dr. Juan Osvaldo Garcia, MD. Bones, Muscles and their Aging Process The human skeleton provides support and structure to the body. As a child we are born with about 300 bones. Once we become adults, the body has 206 bones. The reason why we are born with more bones is because as we age, some bones combine together to form a solid structure. Also as we mature, the postures in our bodies change, bone density can start to vanish, and the spine vertebrae’s can compress which triggers the trunk to appear shorter. Muscles also change as we age. There are more than 600 muscles in the human body. Muscles vary from smooth to cardiac to skeletal muscles. They do everything from pump blood into the body to control movement in certain parts of the body. As we grow older, muscles may lose their density, flexibility and tone. Ossification is the process by which bones are formed and there are two types of bone formations. According to our Wiley textbook “Intramembranous ossification, one of the types of bone formations, happens when osseous tissue forms directly within mesenchyme arranged in sheet like layers that resemble membranes. In the second method, endochondral ossification, osseous tissue forms within hyaline cartilage that develops from mesenchyme.” Intramembranous being the simplest type of bone formation. As people age, the bone density that we once had starts to diminish, known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones, more common in women, where you loose bone density. This disease causes bones to become weak and can break easily. This is dangerous for elderly people because a simple fracture can cause many difficulties for them known as the 3 C’s for Dr. Garcia. The reason why we cannot stop the