ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BACKBONE: DISCS
Posted: under Pain Relief-Muscle Relaxers.
There are discs in the spinal column, in between the vertebrae. These discs, being filled with a gelatinous substance, provide a certain amount of cushioning and give mobility to the spine. If the discs were ‘rock-solid’ like bone, there would be no flexibility of the spine and bending forward or backward, rotational and natural movements would be impossible. Young bamboo shoots are extremely flexible but when the joints (discs) in them fuse as they mature, the flexibility is greatly reduced. There is an ailment of the backbone, ankylosing spondylitis (an autoimmune disease) where the spine joins up as a whole due to the calcification of the ligaments that bind the vertebrae together. The discs too solidify and thus appear like bamboo joints in an X-ray of the spine. This fusion leads to complete loss of flexibility of the back.The discs in the human spine are very well developed while other animals do not have such a well-defined structure as they do not walk erect. The discs cushion the weight of the body, like shock absorbers. In a horizontal spine such a structure (discs) would be a hindrance to the spine as it would be difficult to maintain the rigidity to support the weight of the visceral organs.*61\330\8*
