Biology Researcher

  Doctor

  Nurse

9/9

Bone resorption is a process by which osteoclasts break down bone and release the minerals, resulting in a transfer of calcium from bone fluid to the blood. It occurs on a continual level in the body, with the broken-down bone (osteoclastogenesis) being replaced by new bone growth (osteoblastogenesis). Imbalance between bone formation and bone resorption (resorption > formation) is the key pathophysiological event in many metabolic bone disorders in adult humans, including osteoporosis, which results in bone loss. As people age (i.e., 70-year-old man), the rate of bone resorption (also called osteoclastogenic activity) tends to exceed the rate of new bone formation (also called osetoblastogenic activity), leading to a condition like osteoporosis.

Well, I think you’ve got the basics of  bone biology down.  Nice work! I have to get back to work now, but I suggest that you talk to Dr. Williams in the Orthopedic Center; she is one of our top orthopedic surgeons.  She can give you more practical information about osteoporosis, as well as information about sex and gender differences in the progression of the disease, that should help you understand  how to help the patients you observed earlier today.

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