List of Skeletal System Diseases

The 206 bones of the skeletal system provide a strong framework upon which muscles, tissues and organs can attach. This structure also protects your internal organs and allows your body to move around freely. Like any other body system, however, disease can affect your skeletal system.

Skeletal System Diseases

Our skeletal system provides a framework for the muscles and helps in the basic function of movement. However, due to age and various other factors, the bones become weak and fragile and may get affected by some common disorders.

The human body is made up of nearly 206 bones that protect and preserve the shape of the soft tissues in the body. Our skeletal system comprises bone and cartilage that control and direct internal pressure and provide stability anchoring points for other soft tissues. The bones in our body are joined to each other through ligaments which are tough bands of connective tissue and the muscles are connected to the bones through tendons. Together both muscles and bones form the leverage system that help us to move and perform our daily work. The skeletal system not only protects vital organs, like, brain, spinal cord, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc. but also acts as a reservoir of minerals, like, calcium and phosphorous which are supplied to various body parts through blood. However, the bones become weak or tenuous due to aging, poor eating habits, deficiency of nutrients and minerals or a prior accident or injury, due to which the risk of fractures or long term disorders also increases. Diseases of the skeletal system are not only painful but they also make simple activities, like, lifting a pencil from the ground or bending down to tie shoe laces extremely difficult. Muscular and Skeletal System Diseases Bursitis: It's a disorder that causes pain in the body's joints especially shoulder and hip joints due to overactivity of an arm or leg. Bursitis mainly occurs due to inflammation of the bursa, small fluid-filled bags which act as lubricating surfaces for muscles to move over bones. Osteoporosis: Of the many human skeletal system diseases, osteoporosis is the most common disorder that results due to loss of bone tissue. It's more commonly observed in elderly people and in women, and occurs due to less calcium and phosphorous deposition in the bones. Sprain: It's an extremely painful injury to a ligament or tissue that covers a joint. It results due to a sudden wrench that stretches or tears the tissues of the ligaments and causes swelling in the affected area. Spina Bifida: It's a spinal defect which is present at the time of childbirth. In this, the spinal cord does not develop properly and the vertebrae and skin are unable to shape themselves around it. It results from an error in the development of the embryo due to intake of alcohol, excessive medications or exposure to extreme heat, a month after a woman becomes pregnant. Arthritis: It's a common joint disorder characterized by inflammation of the joints, pain, swelling, stiffness and tenderness in the swollen part. It may occur due to aging, injury, infection, mineral deficiency or hereditary factors. Arthritis is most commonly observed in old people as the cartilage covering the joints (to protect the bones from getting damaged or ruptured due to friction) does not develop properly.

 Scoliosis: It's a skeletal disease in which the person's spine is curved from side to side like a 's' shape. The disorder becomes apparent during adolescence and usually affects girls more than boys. Osteomyelitis: It's a bone infection caused due to a certain strain of the Staphylococcus bacteria which is transported by the blood to the bones from infected areas. Osteomyelitis is characterized by severe pain in the infected bone, fever, chills, nausea and weakness. Talipes Equinovarus: Also called clubfoot, it's one out of many skeletal diseases present at the time of birth. It's a disorder in which the foot is bent downward and inward and so the person can walk only on the toes or sometimes the foot is bent upward and outward and the person can use only the heel for walking. Tendinitis: Also called rheumatism, it's an inflammation or irritation of the tendon, involving stiffness or pain in the muscles or joints. Rickets: It's a skeletal system disease that causes bowed legs in children due to deficiency of vitamin D and calcium. Kyphosis: Also known as hunchback, it's a forward bending of the spine due to deformation of the bones in the upper part of the spine. Diseases that can lead to kyphosis are tuberculosis, syphilis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Poliomyelitis: Often known as polio or infantile paralysis, it's an acute infection caused by a virus that may attack the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis. These were the disorders that can occur in people of all age groups. However, by following a healthy diet enriched with vitamins and minerals and including weight bearing, low impact activities in our daily exercise routine, we can keep our bones strong and healthy.

Skeletal System Diseases and Disorders

The article presents before us, few of the common skeletal system diseases and disorders. Apart from fractures and arthritis, many disorders and diseases affect the skeletal system. Here is a short account of different skeletal problems.

Skeletal system being the framework of our body, any problem affecting it can bring about great changes in the functioning of our body systems. The skeletal system diseases and disorders are mainly characterized by pain, inflammation and other such problems. Information given below should help in becoming aware of few such problems. Diseases and Disorders of the Skeletal System The problems like arthritis, osteoporosis and physical injuries in the form of fractures are commonly observed problems. However, there are many other diseases and disorders associated to skeletal system. Osteoporosis: In this skeletal system disease, the bone tissue is lost. Calcium from cancellous bones is lost and therefore, becomes thinner. Such a problem in bones due to osteoporosis results into increase in chances of bone fractures. Technically speaking, Bone Mineral Density (BMD) reduces in this problem.

Arthritis: In this disorder of skeletal system, joints of bones get damaged. The swelling & reddening of skin, joint pain and restricted bone movements are the commonly observed symptoms of arthritis. More than 200 diseases are included in the list of causes of arthritis. In one of the types of arthritis, i.e. osteoarthritis, wear and tear of the articulatory cartilage takes place. Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition in which swelling of joints is observed and pain is experienced. Gout: The condition of gout results from disturbances in the metabolism process which causes uric acid imbalances in the body. Salts and uric acid produced in excess amount get deposited in between the joints. Gouty arthritis attacks, urate deposition in cartilage, chronic joint destruction are few of the problems experienced by patients of gout. Scoliosis: In this disorder of skeletal system, the spinal cord gets deviated sideways. The acquired abnormalities of vertebrae, nerves and muscles result into scoliosis. Surgical correction, osteoctomy or fusion is used in dealing with the problem. Lordosis: It is the inward curvature of spinal cord. Curvature in cervical and lumbar regions is commonly observed. The different causes of lordosis include diseases of spinal muscles & vertebrae and faulty posture. Kyphosis is a condition similar to lordosis in which the spine curves outward. Fracture: A physical injury which affects the bones is termed as fracture. The different types of bone fractures along with their descriptions are enlisted below. Simple Fracture: In this form of fracture, the bone breaks without causing any damage/cuts in the overlying skin. Compound Fracture: In this type of fracture, the skin which lies over the fractured bone is ruptured by this very bone. Impacted Fracture: The impacted fracture is one in which broken bones get driven into each other. Greenstick: The greenstick fracture of bones, in most cases takes place in children. The outer cortex of bones is not damaged and just the inner bone breaks in this type of fracture. Osteomyelitis: It is a form of bone infection which has two main causes. An infectious agent which is blood-borne causes osteomyelitis in most cases. A secondary infection may be the other cause of osteomyelitis. Such infections result from penetration of skin by fractures. Staphylococcus aureus is the causal organism of osteomyelitis in most cases. Bone tenderness of a high degree is an important symptom of osteomyelitis; the other symptoms being difficulty in limb movement, fever and loss of appetite. List of Skeletal Problems The list presented below, includes names of different diseases and disorders related to skeletal system, left out in the paragraphs above. Neoplasm Osteopenia Bursitis Leukemia Metabolic bone disease Ewing's Sarcoma

Skeletal Dysplasias Bone Cancer Slipped Epiphysis Coxa Vara Osteomalacia Legg-Perthes' Disease Paget's Disease Osteosarcoma Osteogenesis Imperfects

The important skeletal system diseases and disorders are dealt in this article. Many of the skeletal disorders are not included in this list. However, those presented above are observed commonly.