Running Head: Anatomy and Physiology 1 1

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Running head: Anatomy and Physiology 1 1

Anatomy and Physiology 1

Name

Institution of Affiliation
Anatomy and Physiology 1 2

Question 1

Regardless of the health of a person, aging has a direct effect on their joints mobility as a

result of changes occurring in the connective tissues and cartilage. As individual ages, the

amount of synovial fluid (lubricating fluid found within joints) decreases and the cartilage

becomes thinner making joint mobility stiffer and less flexible. Ligaments also become shorter

and tend to lose flexibility, become more brittle contributing also to the stiffness, (Keller &

Engelhardt, 2019). Collectively these changes reduce the joint range of movement as one age.

These changes are due to the inability of aged cells of a joint to maintain homeostasis and are at

high risk of damage. The gross changes include; a decrease of water content, increased stiffness,

and reduction of strength at joints.

As the musculoskeletal system within the joints wears out because of the aging process it

is associated with several clinical problems. They include; Osteoarthritis a chronic disorder due

to damaged cartilage and tissues within a joint, it is characterized by stiff, painful and immobile

joints (loss of function), (REF). Osteoporosis is also a common condition with the aged, often

with women. It is characterized by the ability of bone to break easily at joints, pain and reduced

movement, (Hubertsson et al., 2012).

Another age-related problem is rheumatoid arthritis. Elderly individuals are a risk to

infections due to impaired immunity. They are susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis (inflammation

of joints lining by own immune system) that’s is characterized by painful swelling at joints and

deformity. Fractures are also common with aged individuals due to internal factors within joints

such as the joint becoming more brittle, (EM et al., 2017).


Anatomy and Physiology 1 3

Question 2

Muscle names are based on several features such as function, shape, and location.

Anatomists name and identify muscles based on their anatomical position (their location

reference to a specific bone). For instance, the frontalis muscle is situated on top of the frontal

bone of the skull. Lateralis infers a muscle that is located at the exterior end away from the

midline and medialis infers the type of a muscle located interior side towards the midline. The

gluteal muscle of the buttocks, (Musil et al., 2014).

Other names can indicate the function of a muscle such as type of movement produced;

Flexor infers a muscle that reduces the angle at the joint while else Extensor causes an increment

of the angle at the joint. Abductor refers to a muscle responsible for moving a bone away from

the midline and Adductor refers to a muscle which functions to move a bone towards the

midline, (Handsfield et al., 2016)

Also, muscles can be named based on their appearance (that is muscle shape, length and

direction fibers, and fascicles; for instance, quadriceps refers to a bundle of four muscles at the

anterior part of the thigh. Additionally, a name like a biceps brachii. The bi prefix infers muscle

having two origins and tri infer three origins. Deltoid identifies muscle with a triangular

appearance found at the muscle. Gluteus maximus refers to the largest muscles in the length of

the buttocks while gluteus medialis is medium in lengthwise. Other names include rectus

meaning straight and transverse meaning horizontal muscles of the abdomen, (Mascarello et al.,

2016).
Anatomy and Physiology 1 4

References

EM, Y., Gaafary, M. E., Sayed, S., Palmer, D., & Ahmed, I. (2017). Implementing shared

decision making in clinical practice: Outcomes of a new shared decision making aid

for chronic inflammatory arthritis patients. Journal of Patient Care, 02(02).

Handsfield, G. G., Slane, L. C., & Screen, H. R. (2016). Nomenclature of the tendon

hierarchy: An overview of inconsistent terminology and a proposed size-based

naming scheme with terminology for multi-muscle tendons. Journal of

Biomechanics, 49(13), 3122-3124.

Hubertsson, J., Petersson, I. F., Thorstensson, C. A., & Englund, M. (2012). Risk of sick

leave and disability pension in working-age women and men with knee osteoarthritis.

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 72(3), 401-405.

Keller, K., & Engelhardt, M. (2019). Strength and muscle mass loss with aging process. Age

and strength loss. Muscle Ligaments and Tendons Journal, 03(04), 346.

Mascarello, F., Toniolo, L., Cancellara, P., Reggiani, C., & Maccatrozzo, L. (2016).

Expression and identification of 10 sarcomeric MyHC isoforms in human skeletal

muscles of different embryological origin. Diversity and similarity in mammalian

species. Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger, 207, 9-20.

Musil, V., Suchomel, Z., Malinova, P., Stingl, J., Vlcek, M., & Vacha, M. (2014). The

history of Latin terminology of human skeletal muscles (from Vesalius to the

present). Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, 37(1), 33-41.

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