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Bones: Bodies
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Bones are multipurpose structures that play diverse, vital roles in vertebrates. They provide a framework for the body, supporting it and giving it shape. They ... provide a surface for the attachment of muscles and act as levers, permitting many complex movements. Many bones protect softer internal organs; for example, skull bones protect the brain, and rib bones form a cage around the lungs and heart. In addition to these structural and mechanical functions, bones also participate in the body’s physiology. They store calcium, a mineral essential for the activity of nerve and muscle cells.
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Bones are rigid organs that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Because bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure, they are lightweight, yet strong and hard, in addition to fulfilling their many other functions. One of the types of tissues that makes up bone is the mineralized osseous tissue... called bone tissue, that gives it rigidity and honeycomb-like three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow, endosteum and periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. There are 206 bones in the adult body and about 300 bones in the infant body.
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Bones undergo a continuous process known as remodeling (see Osteoporosis). In this process, old bone tissue is gradually replaced by new bone tissue. Every bone in the body is completely reformed about every 10 years. To maintain bone density and strength, the body requires an adequate supply of calcium, other minerals, and vitamin D and must produce the proper amounts of several hormones, such as parathyroid hormone, growth hormone,
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Bones are made up of calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and other minerals, as well as the protein collagen. Calcium is needed to make bones hard, which allows them to support your weight. Bones ... store calcium and release some into the bloodstream when it's needed by other parts of the body. The amounts of certain vitamins and minerals that you eat, especially vitamin D and calcium, directly affects how much calcium is stored in the bones.
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Infections of bones called osteomyelitis usually are caused by bacteria, especially Staphylococcus, which enters the body through open wounds and may destroy bone tissues. Tumors, or abnormal growths, occur in bone tissue, though most are benign. Cancerous tumors can be caused by excessive radiation; many radioactive substances have an affinity for bone, particularly the marrow, and are readily stored there. Most cancerous tumors in bones... are tumors that spread from cancer in other parts of the body. Cancers that arise in bone, cartilage, and other connective tissues are called sarcomas.
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Your body has 206 bones. These bones serve multiple different functions. First, your bones provide structure to your body and help provide its shape. Muscles attach to the bones and allow you to move. Without the bones, your body would become a pile of soft tissues without structure, and you would be unable to stand, walk, or move. Second, the bones help to protect the more fragile organs of the body.
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