Bone Diseases
Bone diseases or injuries are major causes of abnormalities of the human skeletal system.
Bone Diseases Encyclopedia Articles
See articlesFeatured Articles
cervical spondylosis
Cervical spondylosis, degenerative disease of the neck vertebrae, causing compression of the spinal cord and cervical nerves. Prolonged degeneration of the cervical spine results in a narrowing of the...
osteoporosis
Osteoporosis, disease characterized by the thinning of bones, with a consequent tendency to sustain fractures from minor stresses. Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease, and its name literally...
metatarsalgia
Metatarsalgia, persistent pain in the metatarsal region, or ball, of the foot. The condition arises when the weight of the body, while standing, is forced to rest on the centre of the anterior arch (on...
polymyalgia rheumatica
Polymyalgia rheumatica, joint disease that is fairly common in people over the age of 50, with an average age of onset of about 70. Out of 100,000 people over the age of 50, approximately 700 will exhibit...
bone cancer
Bone cancer, disease characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells of the bone. Primary bone cancer—that is, cancer that arises directly in the bone—is relatively rare. In the United States, for example,...
rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis, chronic, frequently progressive disease in which inflammatory changes occur throughout the connective tissues of the body. Inflammation and thickening of the synovial membranes (the...
osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis, disorder of the joints characterized by progressive deterioration of the articular cartilage or of the entire joint, including the articular cartilage, the synovium (joint lining), the...
rickets
Rickets, disease of infancy and childhood characterized by softening of the bones, leading to abnormal bone growth and caused by a lack of vitamin D in the body. When the disorder occurs in adults, it...
bone disease
Bone disease, any of the diseases or injuries that affect human bones. Diseases and injuries of bones are major causes of abnormalities of the human skeletal system. Although physical injury, causing fracture,...
spondylitis
Spondylitis, inflammation of one or more of the vertebrae. Spondylitis takes several forms; the most widely occurring forms are ankylosing spondylitis, hypertrophic spondylitis, and tuberculous spondylitis....
aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia, disease in which the bone marrow fails to produce an adequate number of blood cells. There may be a lack of all cell types—white blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes),...
arthritis
Arthritis, inflammation of the joints and its effects. Arthritis is a general term, derived from the Greek words arthro-, meaning “joint,” and -itis, meaning “inflammation.” Arthritis can be a major cause...
fibrous dysplasia
Fibrous dysplasia, rare congenital developmental disorder beginning in childhood and characterized by replacement of solid calcified bone with fibrous tissue, often only on one side of the body and primarily...
fracture
Fracture, in pathology, a break in a bone caused by stress. Certain normal and pathological conditions may predispose bones to fracture. Children have relatively weak bones because of incomplete calcification,...
hip fracture
Hip fracture, in pathology, a break in the proximal (upper) end of the femur. Hip fracture can occur at any age. Common causes include severe impact (e.g., a car accident), falls, and weak bones or bone...
graft-versus-host disease
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), condition that occurs following a bone marrow transplant, in which cells in the donor marrow (the graft) attack tissues of the recipient (the host). This attack is mediated...
tennis elbow
Tennis elbow, an injury characterized by pain at the lateral (outer) aspect of the elbow. The patient may also complain of tenderness on palpation of the area of concern, usually the dominant arm. This...
Paget disease of bone
Paget disease of bone, chronic disease of middle age, characterized by excessive breakdown and formation of bone tissue. It is a localized disease that may be unifocal, affecting a single bone, or multifocal,...
stress fracture
Stress fracture, any overuse injury that affects the integrity of bone. Stress fractures were once commonly described as march fractures, because they were reported most often in military recruits who...
dislocation
Dislocation, in physiology and medicine, displacement of the bones forming a joint, with consequent disruption of tissues. Dislocations are caused by stresses forceful enough to overcome the resistance...
spondylosis
Spondylosis, noninflammatory degenerative disease of the spine resulting in abnormal bone development around the vertebrae and reduced mobility of the intervertebral joints. It is primarily a condition...
curvature of the spine
Curvature of the spine, any of a group of deviations of the normal spinal curvature, including scoliosis, lordosis, and kyphosis. Scoliosis is a lateral, or sideways, deviation of the spine, or vertebral...
peromelia
Peromelia, congenital absence or malformation of the extremities, of rare occurrence until the thalidomide tragedy in the early 1960s. Peromelia is caused by errors in the formation and development of...
joint disease
Joint disease, any of the diseases or injuries that affect human joints. Arthritis is no doubt the best-known joint disease, but there are also many others. Diseases of the joints may be variously short-lived...
metabolic bone disease
Metabolic bone disease, any of several diseases that cause various abnormalities or deformities of bone. Examples of metabolic bone diseases include osteoporosis, rickets, osteomalacia, osteogenesis imperfecta,...
multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma, malignant proliferation of cells within the bone marrow that usually occurs during middle age or later and increases in occurrence with age. Myelomas are slightly more common in males...
osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), rare hereditary disease of connective tissue characterized by brittle bones that fracture easily. OI arises from a genetic defect that causes abnormal or reduced production...
gout
Gout, metabolic disorder characterized by recurrent acute attacks of severe inflammation in one or more of the joints of the extremities. Gout results from the deposition, in and around the joints, of...
craniosynostosis
Craniosynostosis, any of several types of cranial deformity—sometimes accompanied by other abnormalities—that result from the premature union of the skull vault bones. Craniosynostosis is twice as frequent...
carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), condition of numbness, tingling, or pain in the wrist caused by repetitive flexing or stressing of the fingers or wrist over a long period of time. Possibly the most common...
avascular necrosis
Avascular necrosis, death of bone tissue caused by a lack of blood supply to the affected area. Avascular necrosis most commonly affects the epiphyses (ends) of the femur (thigh bone); other commonly affected...
marble bone disease
Marble bone disease, rare disorder in which the bones become extremely dense, hard, and brittle. The disease progresses as long as bone growth continues; the marrow cavities become filled with compact...
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis, infection of bone tissue. The condition is most commonly caused by the infectious organism Staphylococcus aureus, which reaches the bone via the bloodstream or by extension from a local...