Biology- Unit 8 Assignment 1 - Shannon Clarke
Scenario
You are employed by a large sports and fitness company as a trainee Health Care Assistant within
their Occupational Health Department (OHD). Your employers are concerned that a significant
number of working days are lost due to employee absence through musculoskeletal disorders. They
hope that by liaising with other Health Care professionals, the OHD will be able to create support
programmes that offer employees education and guidance regarding the structure and function of
the musculoskeletal system, the treatments available for disorders of the system and the effective
clinical management of common musculoskeletal disorders. The company’s management team hope
that this initiative will reduce absences by expediting employees return to work in the shortest
possible time. Your role is to carry out research in order to produce information that will be used to
educate the employees.
Task A)- An evaluation of one named musculoskeletal disorder that
demonstrates how this condition affects the normal movement and
functioning of the musculoskeletal system and the corrective treatments
associated with it. In order to be able to do this fully, you will need to include
evidence of all the following aspects of the musculoskeletal system.
Introduction: Musculoskeletal system- Osteoporosis
Musculoskeletal disorders are disorders that affect your body, such as muscles, bones, joints, and
tendons. One of the most common musculoskeletal disorders is osteoporosis. When osteoclasts,
(which remove old bone) break down faster than osteoblasts (which makes new bone) can rebuild it
This results in lowering your bone mass and eventually you develop Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a
disorder that makes the bones become really fragile overtime and they become prone to fracture.
One of the main causes of osteoporosis is a person not having enough calcium in their body. A low
calcium intake causes bone density, without the right amount of calcium in our bodies our bones will
not be as strong as somebody who has a healthy amount of calcium.
Symptoms: Symptoms of Osteoporosis
In the early stages of osteoporosis, there are usually no symptoms. This is because it is hard to
detect bone weakness at the beginning as there are not usually symptoms so early on. After it has
gotten to a certain point, you may have symptoms such as: backpain, loss of heigh overtime, a
stooped posture and bones that can break much easier due to the condition. Vertebral factures are
common, this happens when more than 1 bore is fractured or shattered in the spine. These cause
backpain, heigh loss and a hunched posture. Femoral neck fractures and distal radius fractures can
also happen, which are more common symptoms in postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Causes: Causes of Osteoporosis
Here are a few self-inflicted causes of Osteoporosis-
,Low body weight- Having a low body weight means that you are more likely to have less bone
tissue. The older you are, the less body fat you have padding your bones. This means if you fall or
sustain an injury, the more likely you are to break your bones.
Smoking- Smoking can slow down the cells in your body that build your bones. Smoking
affects the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Calcium ensures that we have healthy teeth and
bones, so with less calcium in the body your bones will not be strong. Nicotine can also
cause osteoporosis as it slows down the production of bone-forming cells too.
Exercising- Exercise encourages bone development, and lack of exercise means you will
be more at risk of losing calcium from the bones and developing osteoporosis.
Here are some uncontrollable factors-
Family medical history- A well-known uncontrollable factor that can affect the risk of
you getting osteoporosis is your family medical history. By having a parent or sibling with
osteoporosis, it puts you at a greater risk.
Gender- Osteoporosis is a bigger risk in women than men, this is because the menopause
that they go through changes their bone density. There is a hormone called oestrogen and
after menopause the oestrogen levels fall, causing bones to be weaker.
Age- The older you are, the more likely you are to get osteoporosis. This is because when
you grow older, your bones weaken, and bone density is very common in elderly people.
The most common bone to break in elderly people with osteoporosis is the hip or spine
because of low bone density.
Here are some dietary factors-
Diet- If you have a very high salt intake in your diet, the sodium causes your bones to lose
calcium which affects bone density.
High alcohol intake- Alcohol can affect the way your cells build and break down. Being
intoxicated makes you unsteady and more likely to slip and break a bone as well.
How osteoporosis affects normal movement and functioning of the
musculoskeletal system
One of the problems with Osteoporosis is that there is reduced bone density and structure in the
cancellous bone, as well as thinning of the cortical bone. When your bones have thinned to the point
that osteoporosis is diagnosed and gotten to a serious stage, you can start to notice the physical
changes it has on your body. Your bones are changed in structure due to bone density, which can
affect your day to day life. Once the bones are weakened, you may start to feel how weak you are.
The main problem with osteoporosis is breaking bones, the most common bones to break is you’re
your carpel bone which is the bone in your wrist, your vertebrae which is one the bone in your spine,
and your pelvis or femoral bones which are the ones in your hip. This will have a drastic effect on life
as breaking your carpel or vertebrae will have you in a wheelchair, unable to do day to day activity.
Corrective treatment for Osteoporosis
, With osteoporosis, you need to have the correct treatment to benefit them. For example, starting
with the controllable factors is always the easiest treatment. Changing your diet and lifestyle is very
common. By having a low salt intake, you are making your situation worse as the sodium in the salt
causes your body to have a lower calcium level. Calcium is necessary for healthy bones. Many
doctors advise you to change your diet by having less salt.
Giving up smoking is recommended as the nicotine in tobacco actually lowers the ability to produce
calcium, so the doctors recommend anyone with Osteoporosis or at risk of getting Osteoporosis to
either not smoke or quit smoking. Another controlled factors that can help treat, slow down the
progression of osteoporosis and prevent osteoporosis lowering your alcoholic intake. Alcohol can
make you very unsteady and it is proven that falling and breaking bones is much more likely to
happen. So, by lowering your alcohol intake, you are less likely to fall and break your bones.
Taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D helps people who have
osteoporosis. This is because vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the food that you eat,
which is where you get your calcium from. There are studies that show vitamin D helps to keep the
calcium we intake in our bodies, so doctors can give patients with osteoporosis vitamin D tablets to
strengthen their bones.
Another treatment which is most widely prescribed osteoporosis medications are bisphosphonates.
Bisphosphonates, for example alendronate and risedronate, are a medically prescribed drug that
slows down bone density. They are prescribed to most people of all ages as they reduce the risk of
hip and spine fractures. Bone renewal is generally a very slow process, but studies show the majority
of people who take bisphosphonates had stronger bones when being on them for 5 or more years.
Task B) - A detailed, in-depth, explanation using scientific knowledge of the
anatomy and physiology of affected bones, joints, and muscle groups.
The anatomy and physiology of affected bones, joints, and muscle groups
with osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a disorder which affects the strength of your bones in your body, the bones start to
weaken overtime and eventually if they are weakened to a certain extent, they break or fracture.
Osteoporosis causes your bones to be brittle that a fall or even something as small as bending over
or coughing can cause a fracture. The bones that are affected the most by osteoporosis is the carpel,
the pelvis and femoral bones and the vertebrae. Your muscle can weaken overtime, this is due to
inactivity of the muscles.
Osteoporosis affects the bones in our bodies by developing abnormal finding in the bones. This
includes fewer trabeculae in the cancellous bone, thinning of the cortical bone and widening of the
haversian canal. This increases the risk of fractured and broken bones. Parts of the body that
contain cancellous bones are at greater risk of fragility fractures.
Muscles are affected as when you are older, your muscles change with age. When you fracture or
break a bone due to the disease, your muscles weaken as you are more inactive depending on what
bone you have broken or fractured. This is most common in elderly people with Osteoporosis. This is
because when you are older, your muscles weaken and become less toned. In result to this, they are
less able to contract. Osteoporosis can also affect your muscle mass. The less inactive you are, or if
you have a low-calorie intake and a poor diet, your muscle mass can decrease. Having too much salt
Scenario
You are employed by a large sports and fitness company as a trainee Health Care Assistant within
their Occupational Health Department (OHD). Your employers are concerned that a significant
number of working days are lost due to employee absence through musculoskeletal disorders. They
hope that by liaising with other Health Care professionals, the OHD will be able to create support
programmes that offer employees education and guidance regarding the structure and function of
the musculoskeletal system, the treatments available for disorders of the system and the effective
clinical management of common musculoskeletal disorders. The company’s management team hope
that this initiative will reduce absences by expediting employees return to work in the shortest
possible time. Your role is to carry out research in order to produce information that will be used to
educate the employees.
Task A)- An evaluation of one named musculoskeletal disorder that
demonstrates how this condition affects the normal movement and
functioning of the musculoskeletal system and the corrective treatments
associated with it. In order to be able to do this fully, you will need to include
evidence of all the following aspects of the musculoskeletal system.
Introduction: Musculoskeletal system- Osteoporosis
Musculoskeletal disorders are disorders that affect your body, such as muscles, bones, joints, and
tendons. One of the most common musculoskeletal disorders is osteoporosis. When osteoclasts,
(which remove old bone) break down faster than osteoblasts (which makes new bone) can rebuild it
This results in lowering your bone mass and eventually you develop Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a
disorder that makes the bones become really fragile overtime and they become prone to fracture.
One of the main causes of osteoporosis is a person not having enough calcium in their body. A low
calcium intake causes bone density, without the right amount of calcium in our bodies our bones will
not be as strong as somebody who has a healthy amount of calcium.
Symptoms: Symptoms of Osteoporosis
In the early stages of osteoporosis, there are usually no symptoms. This is because it is hard to
detect bone weakness at the beginning as there are not usually symptoms so early on. After it has
gotten to a certain point, you may have symptoms such as: backpain, loss of heigh overtime, a
stooped posture and bones that can break much easier due to the condition. Vertebral factures are
common, this happens when more than 1 bore is fractured or shattered in the spine. These cause
backpain, heigh loss and a hunched posture. Femoral neck fractures and distal radius fractures can
also happen, which are more common symptoms in postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Causes: Causes of Osteoporosis
Here are a few self-inflicted causes of Osteoporosis-
,Low body weight- Having a low body weight means that you are more likely to have less bone
tissue. The older you are, the less body fat you have padding your bones. This means if you fall or
sustain an injury, the more likely you are to break your bones.
Smoking- Smoking can slow down the cells in your body that build your bones. Smoking
affects the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Calcium ensures that we have healthy teeth and
bones, so with less calcium in the body your bones will not be strong. Nicotine can also
cause osteoporosis as it slows down the production of bone-forming cells too.
Exercising- Exercise encourages bone development, and lack of exercise means you will
be more at risk of losing calcium from the bones and developing osteoporosis.
Here are some uncontrollable factors-
Family medical history- A well-known uncontrollable factor that can affect the risk of
you getting osteoporosis is your family medical history. By having a parent or sibling with
osteoporosis, it puts you at a greater risk.
Gender- Osteoporosis is a bigger risk in women than men, this is because the menopause
that they go through changes their bone density. There is a hormone called oestrogen and
after menopause the oestrogen levels fall, causing bones to be weaker.
Age- The older you are, the more likely you are to get osteoporosis. This is because when
you grow older, your bones weaken, and bone density is very common in elderly people.
The most common bone to break in elderly people with osteoporosis is the hip or spine
because of low bone density.
Here are some dietary factors-
Diet- If you have a very high salt intake in your diet, the sodium causes your bones to lose
calcium which affects bone density.
High alcohol intake- Alcohol can affect the way your cells build and break down. Being
intoxicated makes you unsteady and more likely to slip and break a bone as well.
How osteoporosis affects normal movement and functioning of the
musculoskeletal system
One of the problems with Osteoporosis is that there is reduced bone density and structure in the
cancellous bone, as well as thinning of the cortical bone. When your bones have thinned to the point
that osteoporosis is diagnosed and gotten to a serious stage, you can start to notice the physical
changes it has on your body. Your bones are changed in structure due to bone density, which can
affect your day to day life. Once the bones are weakened, you may start to feel how weak you are.
The main problem with osteoporosis is breaking bones, the most common bones to break is you’re
your carpel bone which is the bone in your wrist, your vertebrae which is one the bone in your spine,
and your pelvis or femoral bones which are the ones in your hip. This will have a drastic effect on life
as breaking your carpel or vertebrae will have you in a wheelchair, unable to do day to day activity.
Corrective treatment for Osteoporosis
, With osteoporosis, you need to have the correct treatment to benefit them. For example, starting
with the controllable factors is always the easiest treatment. Changing your diet and lifestyle is very
common. By having a low salt intake, you are making your situation worse as the sodium in the salt
causes your body to have a lower calcium level. Calcium is necessary for healthy bones. Many
doctors advise you to change your diet by having less salt.
Giving up smoking is recommended as the nicotine in tobacco actually lowers the ability to produce
calcium, so the doctors recommend anyone with Osteoporosis or at risk of getting Osteoporosis to
either not smoke or quit smoking. Another controlled factors that can help treat, slow down the
progression of osteoporosis and prevent osteoporosis lowering your alcoholic intake. Alcohol can
make you very unsteady and it is proven that falling and breaking bones is much more likely to
happen. So, by lowering your alcohol intake, you are less likely to fall and break your bones.
Taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D helps people who have
osteoporosis. This is because vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the food that you eat,
which is where you get your calcium from. There are studies that show vitamin D helps to keep the
calcium we intake in our bodies, so doctors can give patients with osteoporosis vitamin D tablets to
strengthen their bones.
Another treatment which is most widely prescribed osteoporosis medications are bisphosphonates.
Bisphosphonates, for example alendronate and risedronate, are a medically prescribed drug that
slows down bone density. They are prescribed to most people of all ages as they reduce the risk of
hip and spine fractures. Bone renewal is generally a very slow process, but studies show the majority
of people who take bisphosphonates had stronger bones when being on them for 5 or more years.
Task B) - A detailed, in-depth, explanation using scientific knowledge of the
anatomy and physiology of affected bones, joints, and muscle groups.
The anatomy and physiology of affected bones, joints, and muscle groups
with osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a disorder which affects the strength of your bones in your body, the bones start to
weaken overtime and eventually if they are weakened to a certain extent, they break or fracture.
Osteoporosis causes your bones to be brittle that a fall or even something as small as bending over
or coughing can cause a fracture. The bones that are affected the most by osteoporosis is the carpel,
the pelvis and femoral bones and the vertebrae. Your muscle can weaken overtime, this is due to
inactivity of the muscles.
Osteoporosis affects the bones in our bodies by developing abnormal finding in the bones. This
includes fewer trabeculae in the cancellous bone, thinning of the cortical bone and widening of the
haversian canal. This increases the risk of fractured and broken bones. Parts of the body that
contain cancellous bones are at greater risk of fragility fractures.
Muscles are affected as when you are older, your muscles change with age. When you fracture or
break a bone due to the disease, your muscles weaken as you are more inactive depending on what
bone you have broken or fractured. This is most common in elderly people with Osteoporosis. This is
because when you are older, your muscles weaken and become less toned. In result to this, they are
less able to contract. Osteoporosis can also affect your muscle mass. The less inactive you are, or if
you have a low-calorie intake and a poor diet, your muscle mass can decrease. Having too much salt
