The Skeletal system
The function and why its important
The function
- Supports and give structure to the body.
- Protects body parts (brain, lungs, heart, spinal cord, liver, kidneys, and endocrine glands). Bones are the organs of the skeletal system. The bones of the skeletal system protect the soft internal organs of our body.
- Skull forms a protective encasement for the brain. Ribcage, dorsal vertebrae, ribs and the sternum, encloses heart and lungs of vertebrates.
- Helps move the body along with the muscles. The skeleton works as a place of attachment for the skeletal muscles.
- Skeletal system stores minerals, calcium phosphate and fat.
- It produces blood cells within red bone marrow.
The human skeleton is composed of the axial skeleton which lies in the midline of the body (skull, ribs, spine, and sternum) and the appendicular skeleton includes Pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle, and the upper and lower limbs (arms and legs, scapula, clavicle, and pelvis).
The roles of bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves in human movement
Bones: Provide a hard framework for stability and acts as levers (3rd class) to facilitate movement
Ligaments: Holds bones together
Muscles: Provide the force required for movement by moving one bone (point of insertion) in relation to another (point of origin)
Tendons: Connect muscles to bones
Nerves: Motor neurons provides the stimulus for muscle movement and co-ordinates sets of antagonistic muscles
2 Major disorders that occur in the Skeletal System
While leukemia is a cancer that primarily affects the blood, the skeletal system is involved as the cancer starts in the marrow of the bone. With this type of cancer, abnormal white blood cells multiply uncontrollably, affecting the production of normal white blood cells and red blood cells.