What Makes Bones Grow?

Bones are living tissue! Just as a tree grows from a seed, your bones grow from cells. Bones are composed of calcium and protein in varying amounts. Your body remodels bone, a process where new bone tissue is constantly being regenerated to replace the old. From childhood to about age 35, bone cells are produced faster than they are broken down. During those years, healthy bones heal quickly when broken. In the years after menopause, bones are slower to repair.

Meet the Bone Makers: Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts.

Bones are like a concrete wall. Strands of protein called collagen fibers make up the steel beams of your bones. The mineral salts ”calcium, phosphate, magnesium, sodium, potassium and carbonate”are the concrete. When your collagen beams are weak, your bones bend easily and become limp like the limbs of a bow-legged child. Without the concrete, especially calcium, your bones become brittle and break easily like in osteoporosis.

Within bone tissue two different types of bone cells called osteoclasts and osteoblasts. These cells synchronize their movements to perform the job of recycling your bones by continually replacing old bone tissues with new. New bones can only grow when this bone building activity exceeds the bone dissolving activity.

These cells are especially busy during times of growth or injury. Osteoclasts, very large cells, are set off by the parathyroid hormone and a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. Osteoclasts detect older and slightly damaged bone and slowly resorb or dissolve it. Osteoblast cells, on the other hand, are responsible for bringing together the substances needed to form new bone tissue. They fill in the space or hole that is left by the osteoclast and create new bone matter from minerals circulating in your blood.

When these bone demolishing and bone building cells are in balance, bone mass remains stable. However, an overzealous osteoclast or a defect in the bone construction process spurs bone loss.

Osteoporosis Factors

We really don't know what causes osteoporosis. What we do know is there are many contributing factors. The three most important factors related to bone loss are nutrition, exercise and decline in certain hormones. The loss of estrogen in post-menopausal women causes bone resorption to increase and bone formation to decrease. Osteoporosis affects both men and women as they age. The United States Department of Health and Human Services estimates that over 20 million Americans are affected by osteoporosis. The National Institutes of Health reports it affects at least 15 million Americans and is responsible for causing 1.2 million fractures a year. Recent studies have found the United States has the highest rate of bone fractures from osteoporosis in the world. How cheering!

Lack of Exercise

Exercise is beneficial for maintaining healthy bones. The force of impact from regular weight bearing exercise, such as walking, jogging and dancing on the bones helps promote bone growth. One study found that women who walked vigorously four times a week for 50 minutes increased their spinal bone mass by five percent in one year. Non-exercisers lost bone mass at a rate of seven percent a year.

Poor Nutrition

Your risk for osteoporosis can be reduced with proper nutrition and by avoiding foods that inhibit calcium absorption. Recent studies have found if your diet is high in fats and sugars, bone strength may lessen and stiffness increase in a relatively short period of time. Diets high in proteins, especially from animal foods like meats, may increase your rate of excretion of calcium in the urine, causing a loss of bone density. A study conducted on women aged 50-64 eating high protein diets (58-92 grams a day), found that even with adequate calcium in the diet, protein still reduced calcium absorption.

Environmental Pollution

Pollution in our environment, chemicals, food additives and prescription medications contribute to bone loss. Pollution increases your load of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, aluminum and tin, also contributing factors to osteoporosis. Antibiotics, one of the most overused drugs on the market, are not selective when it comes to killing bacteria. While effective in destroying disease-causing bacteria, antibiotics also tend to eradicate the friendly bugs found in your intestine that supply your body with Vitamin K, essential for building bones. Supplementing with lactobacillus acidolphilus and other live cultures found in yogurt and non-pasteurized cultured milk products, can help restore your normal intestinal flora lost from antibiotics. Dairy foods are also high in calcium, which is of course good for your bones. Health care professionals have used natural progesterone cream since 1950's to help relieve the symptoms of menopause, hormone balance, bone support and PMS. It is a natural solution for women and an alternative to synthetic hormone replacement therapy, (HRT). Although it is not been proven by research to be effective.

Please note that there can be other causes. This is for education only. It is not intended to treat, prevent or cure a medical disease. If you have a medical condition, please consult a health care professional.