Complementary Therapies

BSc (Hons)

Level One

Semester 2

Module:

Anatomy and Physiology

Course Tutor: Heidi Yates

Sharna Richardson.

Contents


Introduction

The purpose of this report is to enable me to review and consolidate what I have previously learnt and, through personal research, to study some aspects of muscle physiology in further depth.

My report consists of a brief description of how bone growth occurs, referring to the process of ossification, the role of cartilage, calcium homeostasis and the factors, which cause the skeleton to undergo a spurt of growth in puberty.

The report then moves on to describe clearly, with the use of diagrams, the movements possible in a synovial. The joints described are the knee and the hip joint.  A fully labelled and annotated diagram of these synovial joints is included.

Finally, my report explains clearly the events leading up to contraction of a muscle fibre, and includes labelled diagrams to explain the process. There is also a large diagram showing the structure of a skeletal muscle, which is fully labelled and offers brief explanatory notes on each part of the structure.  

 

Task 1 – The Growth of the Skeleton

The skeletal system of the body provides support and protection, it allows body movements, and is the site of blood cell production and stores minerals and fats. It is also the structure to which muscles are fixed.

The human skeleton changes throughout life. It develops from two types of cells, either mesoderm cells or neural crest cells.  The parts of the skeleton that develop from mesoderm cells include: the skull; the vertebral column; appendicular skeleton and ribs. However the bones of the face develop from neural crest cells.

The Process of Ossification

Ossification is the term used for the growth or formation of bone, and there are two types of ossification – intramembranous and endochondral bone formation.

Intramembranous Ossification: produces the flat bones of the skull and most of the clavicle.  The process begins in the womb when some of the embryonic connective tissue called mesenchyme, condenses into a sheet of soft tissue with a dense supply of blood capillaries.  The cells that make up this sheet of soft tissue get bigger and change into osteogenic cells. The rest of the connective tissue turns into a network of soft trabeculae (wove bone).  The osteogenic cells collect on the trabeculae, and turn into osteoblasts. These form a matrix of cells called osteoid tissue. This is similar to bone except for a lack of minerals.  As the woven bone grows thicker, calcium phosphate is left in the matrix.  The now-calcified trabeculae forms permanent spongy bone. This spongy bone is then converted into compact bone, because trabeculae at the surface continue to calcify until the spaces between them are filled – this creates a sandwich of spongy bone between two surface layers of compact bone.  Connective tissue at the surface of the developing bone stays uncalcified, however it becomes more fibrous and it eventually gives rise to the periostium of the bone.  

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Endochondral Ossification: produces the vertebrae, pelvic bones and bones of the limbs. This is a process where the connective mesenchyme tissue turns into hyaline cartilage. Hyaline cartilage consists of specialized cells that produce a matrix.  These cells called Chondroblasts and when they are   surrounded by matrix they become a chondrocytes.  These are   rounded cells that occupy a space within the matrix called a lacuna.  The matrix contains collagen, which provides strength, and proteoglycans, which make cartilage resilient by trapping water.

 

The Role of Cartilage

Cartilage plays a number of roles related to bone growth and repair, support and ...

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