Bone, Joint and Muscle Terms

A stack of small bones with shock absorbers between them, rigid enough to carry weight and flexible enough to bend in every direction.

A genetic condition that causes unusual facial features and disorders of the skin, bones, nervous system, eyes, and endocrine glands.

Biofeedback trains awareness of involuntary body functions using real time sensor data, applied alongside other care for conditions such as headache and chronic pain.

The muscular canal extending from the uterus to the exterior of the body.

Bisphosphonates slow bone breakdown and are used chiefly for osteoporosis, along with certain cancer related bone conditions and Paget disease.

The necrosis (death) of bone tissue caused by treatment with a bisphosphonate (a drug or substance used to treat osteoporosis, bone pain caused by some types of cancer, and high blood calcium).

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which tiredness, fever, and an enlarged spleen occur during the blastic phase, when more than 30% of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells…

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which 20% or more of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells (immature blood cells).

The number a bone scan produces, describing how much mineral is packed into a measured slice of the skeleton.

An imaging test that measures bone density (the amount of bone mineral contained in a certain volume of bone) by passing x-rays with two different energy levels through the bone.

An abbreviation from older drug references for jaw bone that dies and stays exposed during treatment with bone strengthening medicines.

Bone cancer includes primary tumors that arise directly within bone tissue and secondary tumors that spread there from cancer elsewhere in the body.

A measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorous) contained in a certain volume of bone.

A medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone.

Bone marrow exists in two forms, one actively producing blood cells and another composed mostly of fat, and the balance shifts with age.

The destruction of bone marrow using radiation or drugs.

This procedure obtains a liquid marrow sample and is frequently performed together with a separate technique that removes a small solid core.

A procedure in which a small sample of bone with bone marrow inside it is removed, usually from the hip bone.

This umbrella term spans several distinct diseases with different outlooks, so identifying the specific type is essential to understanding what it means.

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the bone marrow.