Human Biology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Biology - Assignment Example It has been analyzed that the onset of the disease begins by the fourth decade of the life in an individual and by the sixth decade of life, 80 percent of the people will present with this pathology in any single joint of their body (Robbins et al 2005; Sharma et al 2007). Many changes occur in the human body with the increase of age. The reduction in the working and efficiency of the muscles, reduction in the force of the muscles as well as reduced capacity of movement production are age related muscular changes. Changes in the ligaments also take place with age which includes decreased strength as well as elasticity of the ligaments. The ligaments and the muscles serve the purpose of providing steadiness to the movements of joints. These changes alter the mechanical nature of the joints and hence are associated with osteoarthritis as they result in decreased capacity of the joint to adapt to weight and stress and hence damage to the cartilage of the joint occurs with strain. Furthe rmore, muscles also tend to reduce the shock from affecting the joints and hence reduced muscle functioning also leads to damaging the joint. These damages may be associated with the accumulation of inflammatory cells within the joint cartilage (Conn 2006; Forceia et al 2000). The cartilage of the joints is made up of collagen type II, proteogylcans and glycosaminoglycans. The cartilaginous tissue also consists of water. This structure of the cartilage assists in the free movements of joints and serves to distribute the weight in a proper manner. But with age, the functional and structural capacity of this tissue reduces. This leads to damage to the tissue with stress and again predisposes to osteoarthritis. With aging, the water content of the cartilage also increases and the supportive structures which include collagen and proteoglycan also tend to reduce. The damage to the joints results in the presence of inflammatory cells within the joint (Robbins et al 2005; Forciea et al 200 0) Osteoarthritis is a condition which presents with tenderness in the joints and difficulty in the movement of joints in the morning. It is believed that the process of the disease early but it presents with symptoms at a later age. The joints which are mainly affected are the knee, hip and the joints of the finger. The disease usually does not affect all the joints of the body but is limited to a few joints (Robbins et al 2005). Osteoporosis is a pathological disease of the bones of the skeleton. It results due to a reduction in the mass of the bone which makes the patient susceptible to fractures of the bones of the body. Ageing is considered to be a very important and primary cause of this disease. The fractures that result due to the decreased bone mass are associated with 1 million cases of fractures in the United States annually (Robbins et al 2005). Changes in the structure of the bone tend to occur with age. The density of the bone becomes reduced and changes with change. O n an annual basis, every normal individual loses 2 percent of their bone density. Thus the minerals of the bones tend to reduce with age making the bones weaker and more susceptible to fracture. This accounts for an osteoporotic change of the bone (National Institutes of Health 2004). Cellular changes occur in the bones as well with age. The bone forming cells which are referred to as the