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UNIT 6

THE SKELETAL SYSTEM

The skeletal system provides a framework for the body and protects the vital organs. It consists of bones and joints. The human skeleton, which comprises 206 bones, is divided into t\vo main parts: the axial skeleton and the appendicular skeleton.

The axial skeleton consists of the skuli, spinał column, ribs and stemum (breastbone).

The skuli is subdiyided into two parts: the cranium and the facial portion. The eight bones of the cranium are United firmly and form a rounded box that encloses the brain.

The bones of the trunk include the vertebral column (the spine), the ribs and the stemum. The vertebral column is madę up of 33 irregularly shaped bones, called vertebrae divided into: seven cervical vertebrae (the first vertebra, the atlas, supports the head, the second, the axis, enables the movements of the head), twelve thoracic, five lumbar, five sacral vertebrae are fused together to form the sacrum, four or five smali terminal bones are also fused together to form the coccyx.

Fig.4. The skeleton.

The bones of the thorax form a cone-shaped rib cage, which protects the heart, lungs and other organs. It is composed of twelve pairs of ribs and the stemum. The first seven pairs of ribs are at-tached anteriorly to the stemum. Each rib from the next three pairs is attached to the rib above. The last two pairs have no anterior attachment and are called the floating ribs.

The appendicular skeleton fonns the skeleton of the upper and lower limbs. The bones of the upper limb include the shoulder girdle composed of two bones: the clavicle (or collar bonę) and the scapula (or shoulder blade). The arm bonę is called the humerus; the forearm bones are the ulna and the radius. There are eight carpals in each wrist, five metacarpals in each palm, three phalanges in eacłrfinger, and two phalanges in each thumb.

The bones of the lower limb are attached to the pelvic girdle, which consists of two hip bones. Each lower limb contains the thigh bonę called the femur, the patella (or kneecap), and two leg bones,

E. Donesch-Jeżo — English for Medical Students and Doctors -1

Word List

•    appendicular [3'pcndi'kjula]

-    odnoszący się do kończyn

•    axial [$k'siol] - osiowy

•    carpal [*ka:p9l]

-    nadgarstkowy

•    cervical ['sa:viksl] - szyjny »clavicle ['klaevikl]

-    obojczyk

•    coccyx ['koksiks] - kość guziczna, kość ogonowa

•    cranium ['kreiniam]

-    mózgoczaszka

•    femur ['fi: ma] - kość udowa

•    fibula [Tlbjub] - kość

strzałkowa

•    girdlc ['ga:dl] - obręcz

•    humerus ['hju:moras] - kość

ramieniowa

•    łumbar ['Umba]

-    lędźwiowy

•    mctacarpal [meta'ka:palj

-    śródręczny

•    metatarsai [meta'ta:sl]

-    śródstopowy

■    patclla [pa'tela] - rzepka

•    phalanges (pl.) [fbTaendgkz], (sing.) phalanx - paliczki

•    radius [Tcidias] - kość

promieniowa

•    sacrum ['seikramj - kość

krzyżowa

•    scapula ['skspjula]

-    łopatka

■    skuli [skAl] - czaszka

•    stemum [’sta:nam] - mostek

•    tibia ['tibia] - kość

piszczelowa

•    ulna ['Alna] - kość łokciowa

•    vertebra ['va:tibra],

(pl.) vcrtebrae - kręg

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