Bones Essay, Research Paper

Many people believed that the bone is static and inert, but this idea is

incorrect, the organic and mineral components of the bone matrix are continually

being recycled and renewed through a process called remodeling. This process

goes under way throughout life, as part of normal bone maintenance. Bone

remodeling plays a key factor between the activities of osteocytes, osteoblasts,

and osteoclasts. In the adult stage, osteocytes are continually removing and

replacing the surrounding calcium salts. But osteoclasts and osteoblasts also

remain active, even after the epiphyseal plates have closed. For the most part

their activities have a balance. As one osteon forms through the activity of

osteoblasts, another is destroyed by osteoclasts. In young adult, approximately

each year one fifth of the adult skeleton is demolished and the rebuilt or

replaced. The turnover and recycling of minerals give each bone the ability to

adapt to new stresses. The mechanism that controls the internal organization and

structure is osteoblast. Whenever a bone is stressed, the mineral crystals

generate electrical fields. Osteoblasts have an attraction to these electrical

fields, and once they are in this area they begin to produce bone. Since bones

are adaptable , their shapes reflect the forces applied to them. Heavily

streeled bones become thicker and stronget, whereas bones not being accessible

to ordinary stresses will be deteriorated. Therefore is important to exercise

daily to maintain a normal bone structure.