Abstract
Calcium is the principal cation of bone, making up almost 20% of its dry weight. Bone constitutes a very large nutrient reserve for calcium in terrestrial vertebrates, a reserve that has acquired a major mechanical function. A major mechanism by which calcium is recognized to influence bone strength is through its effect on bone mass. Because bone functions as the calcium nutrient reserve, it follows inexorably that any depletion of that reserve (or failure to produce the genetically programmed skeletal mass during growth) would carry with it a corresponding decrease in bone strength. Calcium needed for critical cell metabolic functions is, in most cells, derived from intracellular stores of the mineral. The requirement for calcium is related to the protection of this mechanical function, not to the metabolic actions of calcium, which could be adequately protected by a reserve several orders of magnitude smaller. Lack of calcium is a key factor for occurrence of osteoporosis. Effective osteoporosis treatments involve a combination of pharmacotherapy designed to reverse the negative remodeling balance prevailing in the skeleton and physical therapy designed both to increase function and to increase mechanical loading on the skeleton.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Principles of Bone Biology, Two-Volume Set |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 1697-1710 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Volume | 2 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123738844 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2008 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Cite this
Calcium. / Heaney, Robert P.
Principles of Bone Biology, Two-Volume Set. Vol. 2 Elsevier Inc., 2008. p. 1697-1710.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Calcium
AU - Heaney, Robert P.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Calcium is the principal cation of bone, making up almost 20% of its dry weight. Bone constitutes a very large nutrient reserve for calcium in terrestrial vertebrates, a reserve that has acquired a major mechanical function. A major mechanism by which calcium is recognized to influence bone strength is through its effect on bone mass. Because bone functions as the calcium nutrient reserve, it follows inexorably that any depletion of that reserve (or failure to produce the genetically programmed skeletal mass during growth) would carry with it a corresponding decrease in bone strength. Calcium needed for critical cell metabolic functions is, in most cells, derived from intracellular stores of the mineral. The requirement for calcium is related to the protection of this mechanical function, not to the metabolic actions of calcium, which could be adequately protected by a reserve several orders of magnitude smaller. Lack of calcium is a key factor for occurrence of osteoporosis. Effective osteoporosis treatments involve a combination of pharmacotherapy designed to reverse the negative remodeling balance prevailing in the skeleton and physical therapy designed both to increase function and to increase mechanical loading on the skeleton.
AB - Calcium is the principal cation of bone, making up almost 20% of its dry weight. Bone constitutes a very large nutrient reserve for calcium in terrestrial vertebrates, a reserve that has acquired a major mechanical function. A major mechanism by which calcium is recognized to influence bone strength is through its effect on bone mass. Because bone functions as the calcium nutrient reserve, it follows inexorably that any depletion of that reserve (or failure to produce the genetically programmed skeletal mass during growth) would carry with it a corresponding decrease in bone strength. Calcium needed for critical cell metabolic functions is, in most cells, derived from intracellular stores of the mineral. The requirement for calcium is related to the protection of this mechanical function, not to the metabolic actions of calcium, which could be adequately protected by a reserve several orders of magnitude smaller. Lack of calcium is a key factor for occurrence of osteoporosis. Effective osteoporosis treatments involve a combination of pharmacotherapy designed to reverse the negative remodeling balance prevailing in the skeleton and physical therapy designed both to increase function and to increase mechanical loading on the skeleton.
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U2 - 10.1016/B978-0-12-373884-4.00010-0
DO - 10.1016/B978-0-12-373884-4.00010-0
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9780123738844
VL - 2
SP - 1697
EP - 1710
BT - Principles of Bone Biology, Two-Volume Set
PB - Elsevier Inc.
ER -