Summary of The Subtle Body ||
Part II: Human Anatomy
(5.) The Skeletal System
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Cyndi Dale continues the encyclopedia with addressing how the physical body is like the subtle body as it is also composed of energies. Dale describes how we see ourselves in a physical aspect, which is made of slow moving particles that we can see, touch, hear, and sense. This part of the encyclopedia acknowledges how the body is not only made of flesh and blood of the physical, but it the body is made of light that is actually invisible to our eyes. The energies that compose the physical body and move slower with a lesser intensity and vibration, and this is primary focus of part two exploring the major physical systems that make-up the human body. It is intended to offer a basic grounding into our anatomical structures and processes, while beginning to investigate the energetic nature of the human body.
The Skeletal System
Dale explains, it is important to note that bones are not only controlled by the endocrine system but also bones store the calicum and phosphrous necessary for the body to function. Bones are made up of water and minerals as wells as the celluar matrix which binds them together. They are surrounded by tough and fibrous periosteum in which ligaments and muscles are inserted. Further, bones are rigid and hard on the outside but softer and lighter on the inside.
Also, the hardness of a bone comes from mineral salts, which is primarily calcium phosphate; bone strength derives from a fibrous protein known as collagen, which makes up connective tissue. Bones provide stable support for the body, while protecting internal organs and creating movement when in conjunction with muscles. Lastly, bones serve as an attachment point for muscles and produce specific red blood cells for the bodily circulation system.
The skeletal system of a human adult consists of merely two hundred and six bones. The skeleton itself has two main parts:
1. the axial skeleton - consits of the ribcage, spine, and skull
2. the appendicular skeleton - houses the lower and upper limbs
as well as the shoulder and pelvic girdles
Bone Creation
Babies are bone with more than three hundred bones. Interestingly, this number reduces through the years because of ossification, "a hardening of the cartilage in which the bones and cartilage fuse into larger units, creating fewer but larger bones" (Dale, 2009, p. 47). Bone are competely solid when they begin growing, until they develop hollow centers; this slighty reduces the strength of bones, but reducing their weight faciliates proper muscle movement. The hollowed out centers in the bone contain marrow, which is the material that manufactures blood cells.
Cartilage form bones; Dale describes cartilages as "a rubbery gristle that forms as vertebral discs and ligments, with the exception of the clavicle and some parts of the skull, which ossify directly form membrane tissue" (2009, p. 48). Dale also introduces, osteoblasts as bone-forming cells that deposit a collagen-fiber matrix directly onto tendon, cartilage, and membrane. Lastly, Dale states that when this matrix is laid down, the matrix is calcified by the calcium that is carried in the blood; overall, diet and hormones govern this process.
Bones Are an Endocrine Gland
Dale states that the "bones have a stronger connection to the endocrine system than have been previously known" (2009, p. 48). She introduces a study that was published in the scientific journal Cell, which shows a connection between the regulation of insulin and osteocalcin, which is a vitamin K-dependent hormone that is recreated by osteoblasts. After using genetically altered mice, researchers had found that osteocalcin is capable of improving insulin sensitivity and stimulating insulin secretion, which is generally one of bodily functions of dominant endocrine glands.
These findings, Dale explains, indicuted that the skeleton plays a role in regulating energy metabolism within a feedbook-loop fashion. This is because apparently the skeletal system exerys an endocrine regulation for sugar homeostasis. In the end, the findings estalished that the skeleton is an endorcine organ, which controls energy metabolism; this has had important implications when it comes to the treatment of the rising status of obesity and diabetes.
References:
Dale, Cydni. (2009). "Human Energy Fields." The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, Part III, chapter 27. Publisher: Sounds True.
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