Brought to you by Deepak Chopra, MD, Alexander Tsiaras,and TheVisualMD.com
There seems to be no part of your body so impenetrable and permanent as the skeleton. Bones protect your organs, provide the framework for your muscles, and make it possible for you to stand erect and move. Yet every bone in your body is in a constant state of flux. In the lacy interior of the spongy, or trabecular bone tissue, old tissue is broken down by cells called osteoclasts. At the same time new bone, formed by osteoblasts, replaces it. Under ideal conditions, these two kinds of cells do their work in concert, simultaneously unraveling and reweaving your skeleton in a process called remodeling. But this system can go haywire, creating too few new bone cells and leaving fragile, porous areas inside the bone. This condition is known as osteoporosis. It can lead to fractured bones, a stooped posture and chronic back or joint pain. The range of factors that can throw skeletal remodeling off balance include low calcium or vitamin D levels, too little exercise, menopause and certain medications.
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