Musculoskeletal Disease

∞ generated and posted on 2018.09.01 ∞

Diseases of the bones, muscle, and connective tissue, as well as injuries or conditions.

Diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system includes arthritis, bone cancer, bone fracture, bone spur, bone tumor, bunion, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, chondromalacia patella, coccydynia, dislocated joint, fibromyalgia, frozen joint, ganglion cyst, gout, herniated disc, joint fusion, joint misalignment, kyphosis, lordosis, lower back pain, lupus erythematosus, muscle cramp, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, osteoarthritis, osteomalacia, osteomyelitis, osteoporosis, Paget's disease, prolapsed disc, pulled muscle, rickets, rheumatoid arthritis, ruptured tendon, scoliosis, spondylosis, Stickler syndrome, strained muscle, tendonitis, tenosynovitis, tetanus, torn cartilage, torn ligament, torn muscle, etc.

This page contains the following terms: Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Muscular dystrophy, Rheumatoid arthritis



Osteoporosis

Disease associated with progressive loss of bone mass and increased potential for bone fracture.
"Osteo" means bone and "poros" means pores, thus, bones with pores, which are bones that have been weakened in the course of loss of mineralized bone mass. This occurs when the homeostasis of bone maintenance is disrupted such that osteoclasts, which remove bone material (bone resorption), are more active than osteoblasts, which instead add bone material (ossification). While loss of bone mass is typical of aging, osteoporosis represents an excessive loss of bone mass.


Links to terms of possible interest: Bone matrix, Osteoporosis

The above video provides a nice introduction to the osteoporosis and its causes and treatment.



Osteoarthritis

Degenerative and inflammatory joint disease associated with loss of articular cartilage and bone spur formation.
Articular cartilage includes that which is associated with synovial joints. Osteoarthritis can result from genetic predispositions, joint injury, joint misalignments, obesity, and excessive overuse such as associated with athletics. It's symptoms include joint pain and stiffness.

The location of the most commonly affected joints are the hands (particularly at the base of the thumb and near the ends of the fingers) hips, knees, and spine (particularly neck and lower back). Often the impact is not symmetrical, e.g., one knee may be affected but not the other.

The above video provides a nice introduction to the osteoarthritis and its causes and treatment.



Rheumatoid arthritis

Degenerative and inflammatory joint as well as more general disease that is a consequence of autoimmunity and can result in joint fusion.
Osteoarthritis is the second most common type of arthritis. The location of the most commonly affected joints are the ankles, feet, hands, and wrists but its impact is not limited to either bone or joints. In addition, its impact often is symmetrical, e.g., if one knee is affected then so is the other.

The reason for this lack of focus of pathology is because rheumatoid arthritis is the result of autoimmunity rather than physical stress, i.e., contrast osteoarthritis. In addition, in rheumatoid arthritis the bones making up joints can come to grow together and if left untreated can potentially, eventually fuse, resulting in loss of joint mobility.

The above video provides a nice introduction to the rheumatoid arthritis and its causes and treatment.



Muscular dystrophy

Degenerative disease of youth involving progressive weakness and loss of ability to walk.
A number of mutations can give rise to different forms of muscular dystrophy (MD). They involve defects in muscle proteins, particularly the protein, dystrophin.

The above video presents a quick overview of myotonic dystrophy, which in adults is the most common form of muscular dystrophy.