Stories from a Skeleton

 

Dear AnatomyWizard,

We are a group of bones who belonged to a teenager who died hundreds of years ago.  We never expected to see the light of day again, but a recent excavation literally unearthed us, and now experts are speculating about the kid we once belonged to.  The really creepy thing is, these experts are mostly right!  They know that he was left-handed, that he did heavy manual labor, that he had scoliosis, and that he once had a broken right arm that didn’t heal perfectly. They even know that he hadn’t quite reached adulthood.

How can they know so much about our former owner without ever meeting him or reading about him?

Sincerely,

Old Bones from a Young Man

 

Dear Old Bones from a Young Man,

Experts are able to tell a lot about a person just by looking at their bones. It is quite fascinating. Putting stress on your bones or if you EXERT your body when you jump, run, or lift a weight, sends a signal to your body that your bones need to be made stronger. New cells are then added to strengthen your bones. Experts probably saw that the bones in the left arm and hand were slightly larger than the right so that determined your owner was left-handed. Since he did heavy manual labor, a lot of his bones were probably large and strong. Again this is due to the fact that when you use your bones more, they signal your body to strengthen your bones. I am sure they knew your owner had scoliosis because it is an abnormal curve of the spine. Scoliosis can also cause your lower limbs to be of unequal length. If your owner broke his right arm and it didn’t heal perfectly could be due to multiple reasons. If he wasn’t put in a cast to immobilize his arm or if it was a displaced fracture and they didn’t line it back up, it could prevent it from healing correctly. When bones are fully grown, the hormones that helped with our growth spurt also aid in closing our epiphyseal plate. So if you didn’t reach adulthood, your epiphyseal plate was not closed. I hope I helped with your questions.

Sincerely, Right-Handed with Slightly Larger Bones on Right Side

 

Dear Old Bones from a Young Man,

First, don’t over EXERT yourself, as your owner has done in previous years. Research experts’ story should not be a scary one, but more of an amazing experience to mentally revisit your life VICARIOUSLY through them. Certainly you understand the hows, but research helps us to understand beyond that dimension: why the how happens. Technology has advanced at a staggering rate, allowing moral DECADENCE in educating us to be a thing of the past. Let’s reflect for a moment. Research shows that teeth serve as a most reliable and valuable source of information when trying to determine a specific age group, and sometimes unfortunately, a personal identifier for those who have met with an untimely and unsuspecting demise Families need closure when catastrophic events occur such as 9/11. Research also provides us with a clear distinction of the age group, prior to adulthood based on whether or not the epiphyseal plate (growth plate), and has closed completely. As children grow, the shaft of their bones gets longer and the bones gradually replace the cartilage epiphyses. We know that scoliosis is none other than an abnormal curvature of the spine, taking on the shape of an ‘S’, in mild cases, and the shape of a ‘C’, in the more severe form of the disease. It is commonly understood that the dominant side of anyone’s body is larger, in diameter based on muscle. What we don’t see, is beyond the once flesh-covered surface. So, we able to identify his dominant hand based on his remains because the bones too, are often larger because they were the major driving force behind the manual labor. As for his broken arm, well it didn’t heal properly due to his socio-economic status, based on the spoken clue, “hundreds of years ago.” Modern medicine allows us to view things differently and far beyond what the naked eye is capable of visualizing. We do this by advances in technology that allow us to use state-of-the art x-rays, bone density scans, etc. that were not available , hundreds of years ago. So, while the concept may seem a bit frightening, it now allows for scientific advances that enable the medical community to provide advanced approaches to protection, prevention and recovery for those less fortunate, such as yourself never realizing your story would be revealed.

Every Notch Tells a Story

 

Dear Old Bones from a Young Man,

Sorry to hear that your human being has passed at such a young age. Glad to know that you and all the other bones have been able to see the light of day again. Well let’s begin to help you understand why it is possible for people to know all these things about the human being you were once attached to. Now I was reading up on this for you on in my anatomy book on page 193. Majority of the time bones are on a pretty accurate schedule from the time they form until death. The epiphyseal plates persist and provide for long bone growth all throughout childhood and the sex-hormone- medicated growth spurt at adolescence. Usually by the age of 25, most bones are completely ossified and skeletal growth will cease. In some children and adolescents bone formation exceeds resorption. Also genetics plays an important factor on how much a person’s bone density will change over a lifetime. As for people knowing the hand of your human was left is because there is probably more wear and tear around the tarsals (wrist) metacarpals(hand) and the phalanges (fingers) of the left hand than the right. As for the manual labor the people could probably tell that both metacarpals are equally in bad shape. There is a high possibly that your human being has EXERTED oneself when doing this manual labor. The people can also tell he had scoliosis because his spine would have been a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs during a growth spurt right around puberty. The right arm can be shown that it possibly didn’t heal correctly through x-rays and close examinations that is invisible to human eye on the outside looking in. The bones could have been displaced or a spiral injury. So it’s not creepy at all to know about your human being without knowing your human. Look at it as a positive thing because your human being is clearly still a well-known person through his bones. I hope I have helped you understand the questions you had and are proud of your human being for all that he has done and hope you bones get to continue to see the light.

Sincerely, Tough Bones

Dear Old Bones from a Young Man,

There is nothing about your situation that should make you feel uncomfortable or alarmed. The experts who unearthed your owner’s bones are archaeologists who study human history through their remains and other artifacts. The reason they can tell all those things about your former owner is because the damage done to his bones while he was alive is still evident after many years. The experts can tell that he was left-handed because between both hands, the left one was stronger and had more muscle attached to it than the right hand. They know he did heavy manual labor because there were probably injured or fractured bones throughout his body. These injuries confirm that overtime, an excessive amount of pressure was EXERTED onto some of his bones. The experts also know your owner had scoliosis because the bones on his spine had an abnormal curve that is most often seen in the thoracic region of the vertebrae. They also can tell that he once had a broken right arm that didn’t heal perfectly because the fracture can still be seen. The reason these experts know your owner didn’t quite reach adulthood is due to the fact that a child’s skull has more separation between bone plates that an adult skull. They could also determine the age group of your owner because the bones, joints, and teeth are different than that of a full grown adult. All this goes to show that the experts didn’t have to meet or read about your owner in order to know all these things. The bones,when properly examined and analyzed, give plenty more information and insight to a person’s life.

Sincerely, Dr. Know It All

 

Dear Old Bones from a Young Man,

I can help you understand why these experts know so much about your former owner. The reasons why they know that he was left-handed and that he did heavy manual labor are due to bones response to mechanical stress, which directly relates to Wolff’s law. Wolff’s law says that when bones EXERT themselves, their mass increases or reconstructs as a reaction to the stress put on them. When your owner used his dominant left hand and did heavy manual labor, his bones increased due to repetitive intense use. The experts could also assess that your owner had scoliosis, due to irregular curvature in his spine. Scoliosis is prevalent in adolescents and can be medically repaired with modern surgery or braces. Unfortunately, your owner did not have access to those useful medical procedures or tools. Your proprietor’s imperfectly healed right arm bone was noticed by the experts because it looked like it was not treated properly by immobilizing it or constricting its movement to allow it to heal correctly. The bone then remodeled itself in its then “new” undesirable location. The reason the experts knew your owner had not quite reached adulthood was due to the epiphyseal plates in his long bones. An epiphyseal plate is a hyaline cartilage disc that is in the area where diaphysis and epiphysis meet. If he would have reached adulthood, he would have a vestige of the epiphyseal plate, which is called the epiphyseal line. Welcome to the 21st century Old Bones from a Young Man. You will be of great use to modern science in helping us to understand the way of life for humans hundreds of years ago.

Thank you. Bio Buster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT Vacation??

Dear Anatomy Wizard,

I am a melanocyte, residing in the epidermis. Every year the body I’m part of takes all of its cells…trillions of us…to the beach for spring break.  The brain cells get really excited about this, and they spend a lot of the trip relaxing, giddy on ethanol.  The skeletal muscles enjoy lying in a lounge chair by the ocean. The lungs enjoy the fresh salt air. Everyone loooooves the break….except me.

As soon as we hit the beach I am asked to work overtime with no days off (unless it rains…then I get a break).  This seems most unfair to me, and I wonder what I can do to rectify this obviously inequitable situation.

Signed, Would Have Rather Had a T-shirt

 

Dear melanocyte,

Synthesizing melanin must be exhausting work, but your endeavors are not in vain. You play a very crucial role in shielding the human body’s skin from harmful ultraviolet rays. You should not feel like the burden is solely your responsiibility. The human epidermis is REPLETE with an abundance of other melanocytes. You have dendrites (branches attached to you) that help relocate important pigment granules to other epidermal cells. Did you know you have neighbors called keratinocytes that aid you with your essential tasks? The keratinocytes produce the fibrous protein keratin, that help transfer necessary pigments that ultimately form a shield that defends the nucleus from detrimental ultraviolet radiation emanating from the sun’s rays. If it weren’t for your diligence, consistent vigil, and aid from keratinocytes, our epidermis would be susceptible to massive amounts of radiation damage, which can lead to harmful skin cancers. So you see melanocyte, even though you may think your situation is inequitable, you have a great deal of collaborators that provide you with much needed support. Your service is of great importance and necessary.

With much gratitude, Bio Buster

 

Dear Would Have Rather Had a T-shirt,

I can understand why you might feel a bit left out and unimportant, but let me assure you that this is not the case. Being a melanocyte, it is your responsibility to produce melanin in order to give color to the skin. As a result, the melanin that you produce helps protect skin cells from ultraviolet radiation. The reason you have to work overtime at the beach is because the body you’re part of is being overexposed to the sun. In order for him/her to not get damaged skin, you have to produce melanin and reduce your body’s chances of getting unhealthy skin. Of course that depends on the skin color of the body you’re in. If he/she is darker in skin tone, you have to produce plenty more melanin than if he/she has a fairer complexion. Although you may feel like you’re not PARTIAL to the body you are in, I can guarantee that you are very important during the summer. Just think of the wonderful break you’ll have in the winter and on all those rainy days when the other cells have so much to do.

Sincerely, Dr. Know It All

 

Au Contraire,

You are the ONLY line of defense for your “carrier” while on spring break even if it’s cloudy! The only way you’re getting a vacation is from the dark confines of a jail cell so lets hope your carrier likes to party hard! OK so seriously, you are the only shield between the sun’s harmful UV rays and your carrier and the darker they are the more you’ll work! I suppose you could just stop working and see how that goes! Your carrier would be miserable from the sunburn and more than likely spend more time inside. However, that may cause some ruckus in your neighborhood. For instance, if you decide to go hangout on the dark side of the moon (keratinocyte nucleus) then your superficial buddies (blood vessels) would be severely damaged. The GRIEVOUS cost of your absence would be great. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team and work a little over time. Just think…8 months from now you’ll be skiing down easy street in Colorado somewhere!

Signed, PANAMA

 

 

 

 

What’s Happening to Me?

 

Dear AnatomyWizard,

I am a messenger… messenger RNA,to be exact.  I work for a genius molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA, for short).  This guy is amazing.  He knows the instructions for making every single protein in the body.  When he wants to send a message, he has me carry the message out to a ribosome.  Here’s where it gets weird.  The ribosome straps me to a sort of workbench.  A bunch of funny-shaped molecules come over to check me out, and each brings an amino acid with him.  After what seems like an hour, although it’s really just a few milliseconds, I am released.  What is going on here?  What kind of messages could the DNA possibly be sending? What are they making in these ribosomes? No one has hurt me, but I do feel vulnerable strapped to that bench.

Signed, Don’t Shoot the Messenger.

Dear Don’t Shoot the Messenger,

There is nothing to be concerned about. You are being strapped into a small and large ribosomal subunits. The funny shaped molecules that are coming to you are called an initiator tRNA that carries an amino acid. They are just looking for the correct complementary mRNA codon to make the correct amino acid. I know that you may feel a little weird about being strapped down without knowledge, You are an important part in this process, and without you, these amino acids will not be able to make polypeptides. Don’t be afraid, and just know that you are a member of a bigger team.

Signed, Lost in Transcription

Self-Esteem Issues

Dear AnatomyWizard,

I am a water molecule circulating in my owner’s body. I’m just a little guy, and people say that I look like Mickey Mouse. This body is filled with millions more just like me. I’m surrounded by some gigantic protein molecules, some fancy lipids, and some simply amazing nucleic acids, and they all look a lot more important than I am. However, my owner’s anatomy teacher insists that I am vital. In fact, she said that the body that I live in can’t live very long at all without me.

I guess I have a self-esteem issue, because I just don’t see what’s important about a tiny fellow like me. Can you suggest any ways that I can feel better about myself?

Signed, Down on Myself

Dear Down on Myself,

Don’t RELINQUISH to your low self esteem, the anatomy teacher is right! You are important for many reasons, the first reason is because of your awesome Mickey Mouse structure. Your two ears, which are two hydrogens, are slightly positive and the other half of you, the oxygen part, is slightly negative which makes you polar and a universal solvent. You can attract basically anyone and help them get to where they need to be! Feel a bit better? No? Well, you know the two popular processes called dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis, which help form bonds and breaks things apart? You, as a water molecule act as a reactant and play an important role in those procedures. Actually, you are the main star in those processes and without you those gigantic proteins that you mentioned, can’t form bonds and be as big as they are. The other qualities that make you important is that you have a high heat capacity, high heat of vaporization, and you make a great cushion to the other body organs. You are their protector. So if you ever feel lonely and need someone to remind you of how important you are, just look around and see what your other water molecule buddies are doing. And it shouldn’t be that hard because you actually make up 60 to 80 percent of the volume of most living cells, so that means you have tons of water molecule buddies! So without you, the body would become dehydrated, which can lead to organ failure and the DECLIVITY of your health can possible lead to the “D” word. Death. So yes, you are very much needed and when I said that you were important, I lied. You are not just important, you are the most important inorganic compound in the human body! So cheer up, and tell your owner the next drink is on me.

Signed, 2cool4school

 

Dear Down on Myself,

It sounds like you have created a false DICTUM to yourself. Your owner’s anatomy teacher was right when saying that you are vital. Did you know that you make up 60-80 percent of the volume of most living cells? That is a lot! You also have many properties that make you vital, and I will remind you of a few of them. You have a high heat capacity, which helps your owner’s body to avoid sudden changes in temperature caused by external factors. You also require high amounts of heat to vaporize, which helps the body in motion to cool down. Due to the fact that you are a universal solvent, you can mix easily with other molecules as well! Also, you are very important in chemical reactions, such as breaking down your owner’s food. Let’s not forget about cushioning: this property enables you to protect your owner’s body organs from physical trauma. See how important you are? I wish I could get your autograph!

Signed, Your Fan

 

Dear down on Myself,

The reason people say that you look like Mickey Mouse is because you are a water molecule and have two positive “ears” and a negative “head.” Being a water molecule, you are made up of two elements called hydrogen and oxygen. As a result, you have a slight positive charge on one end and a slight negative charge on the other. When these opposite charges attract, it creates surface tension and the whole molecule is called a hydrogen bond. Those gigantic protein molecules that you are surrounded by are the basic structural material for living cells in the body. Without them, there would be no activity or structure in your owner’s body. The lipids that you call fancy are molecules that make up the building blocks of the function of living cells. Nucleic acids are the largest molecules in the body and consist of DNA and RNA. They are all important, but so are you. Each one of you make up your owner’s body, so without either of you, your owner won’t be able to do the things he/she does. Your owner’s anatomy teacher is right that you are vital and that the body you live in can’t live long without you. You are important because you have a high heat capacity that helps absorb and release heat before changing temperature. You are also a universal solvent that allows reactions in the cells to take place. This also allows for good transport for the nutrients in the body to travel throughout the body. So take heart and feel good about yourself because you are a very important molecule!

Sincerely, Dr. Know It All

 

Dear Water Molecule,

You are the single most important compound in the human body. Do not feel intimidated by those big fancy organic compounds. They need you to perform their functions. You are used to break apart glucose molecules in a process called hydrolysis that creates pyruvate. Without pyruvate there would be nothing to enter the Krebs cycle. You are also capable of joining monosaccharides together to make glycogen to store energy by way of dehydration synthesis. You are the main ingredient in all of the body’s fluids including blood. You are needed to maintain homeostasis in the body. Your natural ability to resist temperature changes keeps the body just right. When the body gets too hot you get secreted through the skin and evaporate taking heat with you. So water molecule, get out of your DECLIVITY and start feeling proud. You’re the best.

Signed, Get UP!

Which Way Is Up?

Dear AnatomyWizard,

I am an ordinary, hardworking knee. Oh, sure, I have a few scars from playground accidents, but overall I’m in pretty good shape. And I’ve always had good relationships with my fellow body parts…until my owner took us to anatomy class. Suddenly the hip is telling me I’m “distal,” and the toes think I’m “proximal.” The spine actually referred to me as “appendicular,” whatever that means. The brain thinks I’m inferior. My owner says she has “superficial scars on her patellar region.”

Can you please explain what all this means? I just want to go back to being a regular ol’ knee.

Signed, Tired of All This Talk

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

I understand your confusion. I had felt the same way when I first started taking anatomy class. The terms used to describe your location are used to explain your location in relation to another part of the body. Distal to the hip means that you are farther away from the origin of the body part. Proximal to your toes means the opposite of distal, it means that you are closer to the origin of the body part. There are two fundamental divisions of our body parts. They are axial and appendicular. Axial refers to the axis of the body; head, neck, trunk. Appendicular refers limbs of the body; arms/legs. And since you are located on the knee which is on a limb, you are apprendicular to the spine. Inferior means you are away from the head or are located on the lower part of the body. That is why the brain thinks you are inferior. Superficial means that toward or at the body surface. Patella is used to describe the area which you are located. Your owner has just used the new terms learned to state that she had scars on her knee. Hope I was able to explain in easy terms.

Signed, Just Learned Anatomy Terms

 

Dear Tired of All of This,

It sounds as if you are feeling discouraged but fear not! You have nothing to worry about. These terms are simply a fancy way of telling directions from a central point. It is a way of being SENTIENT of your location. Appendicular means you are on a part of your owner that is attached to the big part of your owner. Distal is another fancy term meaning you are farther away, so basically the hip is simply saying you are far from him. Those toes are saying you are closer to the big part of your owner, so actually you could tell those toes they are distal since they are farther away from you! The brain, despite all its smarts, is saying you are below it. Although that does sound somewhat condescending, it only mean your are located lower compared to it. Don’t let that old brain worry you much. And your scars are beautiful the way they are! Your owner is describing how those scars on on the top layer, or superficial layer, of skin on you. Don’t let those words worry you! It doesn’t make you any less special or important than you are. You’re needed, wanted, and still a good ol’ knee.

Sincerely, AnatomyLover

 

Dear Knee,

I empathize with your plight. Sometimes when members of our community speak to us using jargon that we are not familiar with, it may feel like we are less intelligent than they are. It can come across as if they are assuming an air of superiority. Speaking of superiority, your friend, the brain, is actually telling you the truth. You are indeed inferior, but not in the assumed meaning of the word. In the anatomical sense of the word, inferior means “lower in the body”. In comparison to the brain, you are lower in the body, and the brain did use the term correctly. I hope you can come to terms with this, and maybe forgive it for offending you. The hip and toes are also using relative terms of distance to illustrate your own position to you. Distal means “farther away from the center of the body, or the point of attachment”, while proximal means “closer to from the center of the body, or the point of attachment”. The knee is father away from the trunk of the body than the hip, and closer to the trunk of the body than the toes are (one could argue that they are the farthest away, or most distal). The term appendicular has a similar meaning; it means “relating or pertaining to a part attached to a main structure”. As the knee, you are part of a group of appendages, or add-ons, if you will, that allow for the locomotion of the trunk parts of the body (or parts attached to the axial skeleton). The trunk portion of the body, contains the spine, so indeed you are appendicular to the spine. When your owner mentioned her “superficial scars on her patellar region”, she was merely using anatomical terminology to describe the scars from “playground accidents” that you are aware of. Superficial means “of or pertaining to the surface” of something, in this case the epidermis, or skin. This means that the wounds preceding these scars didn’t cause any deep tissue damage. I hope these explanations have brought you some well deserved closure. I implore you to stay open to learning new terms, as your owner is very likely to bring more of them to the brain, and the brain is very unlikely to RELINQUISH such knowledge. After all, learning more about how you fit in your community (the human body), can only help you all to work together more harmoniously. When times get tough, you’ll be able to help your owner identify her needs, so you can overcome those hurdles and go on to live long and prosperous lives. As a knee, you serve a very important bodily function. Do not belittle yourself by calling yourself a “regular ol’ knee”; respect yourself, and demand the respect of your fellow body parts by acquainting yourself with anatomical terms. Enlightenment = empowerment.

Signed, Hygieia

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

First of all, I am suprised that you and your pals are SENTIENT beings. You should not be capable of talking, listening, or even thinking. Be happy with the fact you can do all those things. Second, you should not fear what the others are saying about you. All those terms that you are talking about describe you; they are in fact true! The hip says you are distal, that means you are further way from the torso than he is. The toes tell you that you are proximal because you are closer to the torso than they are. Brain says you are inferior, thats just a prissy word for below. Appendicular refers to you being a part of the appendicular skeleton. Finally, the superficial scars on the patellar region, that means your face is messed up. Yes, the patellar region is your face. Embrace it.

Signed, Get some sleep

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

From all that you have mentioned, there is nothing for you to be worried about. All your fellow body parts are just telling you where they are located on your owner and how it’s different from your location. What the hip means by “distal” is that you’re further away from where he is on the body. From his perspective your further down on the body than he is. When the toes say you’re “proximal,” they just mean that you are closer to the point of origin. Just like the hip thinks you’re distal, the toes say you’re proximal because they are further down and have to look up to you. What the spine means by “appendicular” is that you are a limb that is added on to the main part of the body. In anatomy, the body is composed of two regions, the axial and appendicular. The axial region is the central part of the body which consistis of the head, neck, and abdomen. The appendicular region consists of the other add-ons, such as the arms and legs. So when the spine refers to you as “appendicular,” all it means is that you are part of the leg, which is added on to the axial part of the body. The brain thinks you’re “inferior” because you are located near the feet. It may sound as if the brain is insulting you or degrading you but, don’t worry, it only means that on the body you’re further down toward the feet than he is. On the bright side, you can say that the feet are inferior to you. Lastly, when your owner says she has “superficial scars on her patellar region,” it means she has scars that are external to her body, or on her skin. If she had a deep scar on her patellar region, it would be a much more serious case, because then it would be internal and inside the skin. So take heart and keep on being the hardworking knee that you are. Don’t be rough on your fellow body parts; even though they may seem a little OSTENTATIOUS at the moment they’re just learning their places in anatomy and testing them out. You are still a regular ol’ knee, so continue to do what you do best.

Sincerely, Dr. Know It All

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

Your fellow body parts are using the lingo that they learned in your owner’s recent anatomy class. The hip calls you distal because you are farther from the origin of the point of attachment to the trunk while the toes call you proximal because you are closer to the trunk (so go ahead, call them distal!). The spine is correct in calling you appendicular because you are part of your owner’s appendage (or a limb). Brain called you inferior not to insult you but, to say you are away from the head. The superficial scars on your owner’s patellar region are referring to those scars from the playground accidents (which couldn’t have been too bad since the scarring is superficial or, at the body surface). Take a load off your mind, your still just a regular ol’ knee- they just have new ways of saying where you are! Hope this helps!

Anatomy Wizard

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

The hip is telling you that you are distal because you are farther away from the body and the toes are calling you proximal because you are closer to the trunk of the body than they are. The spine referred to you as appendicular because you are not attached to the truck of the body like the spine. You are part of an appendage. The brain called you inferior? Go figure…everyone is beneath the brain! Last but not least your owner is just referring to your battle wounds….those scars on the surface of your cap. It may sound MORBID but those scars build character!

Signed, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes