From the moment bone starts being formed it will also be continually reabsorbed and rebuilt in a turnover process that goes on throughout our lives.
This continuous maintenance system has several important implications.
First, bone is the greatest deposit of calcium in our body, and calcium can be taken away from the bones to keep our blood levels constant.
Small variations in blood calcium levels may lead to heart and muscular problems, because calcium is a fundamental element in the contracture of muscles.
Second, as bone is constantly subject to traumas and small fractures, this system allows for continuous repair of micro-cracks that may occur under strenuous activity, as well as for the repair of major fractures that result from greater trauma or accidents.
In any case, bone is one of the few tissues in the human body that is capable of fully regenerating, rather than forming a scar.
Third, during the growth years, the deposition of calcium is greater than its absorption, with a resulting increase in the strength of the bones.
During adulthood, this process reaches a stable balance, which will tend to be lost as we age, when the resorbtion of bone becomes greater, leading sometimes to osteopenia and osteoporosis.
The Role of Hormones Several hormones, vitamins and the blood levels of ions such as calcium and phosphate play a role.
Sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone are thought to be the main hormones responsible for the closure of the growth plates of the long bones, and therefore the regulators of our growth.
Whereas large amounts of growth hormone will stimulate our growth during childhood, the discharge of sex hormones during puberty will bring our growth to a halt.
Later on in life, lowering levels of sex hormones will cause our bones to become thinner and weaker, leading to problems experienced particularly by women after menopause, largely due to the sharp fall in the levels of sex hormones.
In men, although a similar pattern is observed, there is a much more gradual loss of sex hormones, resulting in a slower pace of loss.
This continuous maintenance system has several important implications.
First, bone is the greatest deposit of calcium in our body, and calcium can be taken away from the bones to keep our blood levels constant.
Small variations in blood calcium levels may lead to heart and muscular problems, because calcium is a fundamental element in the contracture of muscles.
Second, as bone is constantly subject to traumas and small fractures, this system allows for continuous repair of micro-cracks that may occur under strenuous activity, as well as for the repair of major fractures that result from greater trauma or accidents.
In any case, bone is one of the few tissues in the human body that is capable of fully regenerating, rather than forming a scar.
Third, during the growth years, the deposition of calcium is greater than its absorption, with a resulting increase in the strength of the bones.
During adulthood, this process reaches a stable balance, which will tend to be lost as we age, when the resorbtion of bone becomes greater, leading sometimes to osteopenia and osteoporosis.
The Role of Hormones Several hormones, vitamins and the blood levels of ions such as calcium and phosphate play a role.
Sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone are thought to be the main hormones responsible for the closure of the growth plates of the long bones, and therefore the regulators of our growth.
Whereas large amounts of growth hormone will stimulate our growth during childhood, the discharge of sex hormones during puberty will bring our growth to a halt.
Later on in life, lowering levels of sex hormones will cause our bones to become thinner and weaker, leading to problems experienced particularly by women after menopause, largely due to the sharp fall in the levels of sex hormones.
In men, although a similar pattern is observed, there is a much more gradual loss of sex hormones, resulting in a slower pace of loss.