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By:
Chris Clevenger
Bones in the human body constantly change throughout the lifespan. Beginning at birth
most bones are actually cartilage. A process known as endochondral ossification happens in the
fetal stage of mammals’ lives where the cartilage is transformed into bone tissue. Beginning at
birth and continuing throughout puberty for most humans, the cartilage slowly loses its flexibility
and becomes more rigid bones. Bones go through three main stages of growth and development,
The human skeleton has six primary functions; support, movement, protection, blood cell
production, storage and endocrine regulation. If we did not have ribs then our lungs would
collapse. The joints between the bones allows for a wide range of flexibility. In general the
more movement the joint has in it, the weaker it is. Take the hip joint in comparison to the
shoulder joint. The hip is more stable, stronger, and less flexible than the shoulder and therefore
is less likely to get injured. The skull protects the brain, the vertebrae protect the spine, and the
ribcage and sternum protect the major vital organs in the thorax. Red bone marrow that’s found
in the sternum, hip bones, and vertebrae are responsible for a process called hemopoesis; where
The cells that are responsible for the formation of bone cells are called osteoblasts. These
cells constantly lay down more minerals and add to the extracellular matrix of the bone. Its
opposite is a cell called osteoclast. These cells are responsible for dissolving the minerals and
breaking down the bone matrix. As a person grows throughout the lifespan these two types of
cells find some natural equilibrium. The more stress and strain someone puts on their body, the
more osteoblasts are recruited and the more bone is laid down. Likewise the less stress and
strain someone puts on their body the more osteoclast cells take over and reduce the amount of
bone. That’s why you always see the astronauts going onto the space shuttle but rarely see them
coming off. Without the stress of gravity, the osteoclasts in the body take up the excess calcium
The first level of bone growth occurs at the ends of the bone. This process is known as
Endochondral ossification. Within the process of ossification lie two primary steps. The first step
involves cartilage tissue that is added to the growth zones of the bone. Both of the zones are
located at the distal ends of the bone that is in the process of growing (Schoenau, 2004).
The second step in bone growth and development occurs in width. This process is also
known as bone modeling (Frost, 1990). This occurs when osteoclasts and osteoblasts sit on
opposite sides of a given piece of bone. The osteoblasts are typically located on the outer surface
and the osteoclasts are usually located in the inner surface. The osteoclasts usually remove less
bone tissue than is deposited by osteoblasts, thus modeling tends to lead to a net increase in the
The third and final step of bone growth and development occurs as a process called
remodeling. This occurs when bone tissue has been created either by endochondral ossification
or my modeling and it continues to be turned over in a process that is called remodeling (Frost,
1990). During remodeling, the bone growth goes through cycles of bone reabsorbing and
formation. This type of remodeling is done in groups and these groups of cells involved in this
In order to further understand these levels of bone growth and development, one must
venture into the beginnings of bone formation. Stages early in embryonic life begin with a
skeletal system called a “cartilage model”. Once the framework is created, ossification begins to
occur. During the embryonic developmental stages, two types of bone ossification take place.
One of them is called the primary ossification center and the second one is called the secondary
ossification center. The primary ossification center seems to occur at the midportions of the long
bones. The secondary ossification centers seem to come into play during the postnatal bone
growth. This secondary ossification is also know as the epiphyseal plate, growth plate, or
Children grow more slowly during the years of middle childhood when compared to early
childhood or adolescence. Girls and boys have similar growth patterns; they appear thinner
because they grow taller. During the middle years, children become more skilled in controlling
their bodies. Their rate of physical growth slows temporarily, just long enough to give them time
to get comfortable with their bodies and an opportunity to practice their motor skills and increase
their coordination.
During the adolescent years, most children experience a rapid increase in height and
weight called a growth spurt. This spurt is approximately two years earlier in girls than in boys.
Most of the spurt in height is due to acceleration of trunk length rather than leg length. Leg
length reaches its peak first, and shoulder width last. This type of growth is called asynchrony,
and often results in clumsiness and misjudgments. Because of different rates of maturation,
some adolescents have an advantage in athleticism and attractiveness during this age group.
The peak years for speed and agility are between 18 and 30. Most Olympic athletes fall
between this age range, with exception of some events; eighteen is considered old for female
gymnasts, and most golfers peak around the age of 31. The physical growing slows and stops in
this range, so the ability of one is able to focus and fine tune it. Middle and late adulthood, the
bones and skeleton begin their degeneration until death. For some of the social elite, Human
Many factors affect bone growth and development throughout the lifespan. Lack
of blood supply, nutrients, and other environmental constraints can act as a toll in bone growth
and development. We can recall that girls in general seem to acquire a faster rate of maturation
than boys, however, boys seem to have stronger and more sturdier bones than girls (Haywood,
2009). Other factors may include sports. Children that participate in heavy training will be
affected and bone growth may stop. This can attribute why males might have stronger bones than
girls.
As the body ages, so does the skeletal system. The system itself changes and undergoes
various stages of remodeling throughout its lifetime. The youth experience bone growth at a high
rate and have little to no trouble during this time, however, adults seem to being a downward
process of this development. Instead of new bone being formed, bone is being broken down
quicker than new bone is formed, thus causing a gradual and steady decline among the older
Some factors that have been studied and that have shown a difference in bone growth
through development include: certain hormone levels, dietary deficiencies, and decrease
exercise. Women are at higher risk of bone degeneration. It has been observed that the decrease
in the levels of estrogen in females leads to a higher loss of bon mass. This can be described
because estrogen hormones stimulate osteoblastic activity (Haywood, 2009). Another major
source of bone degeneration can be the lack of calcium intake. Along with this can also be a
calcium have on the human bone. A study that was done by Cumming in 1990, consisted of
women who were undergoing early stages of menopause. These women were administered a
calcium supplement and another control group was not. The differences that were noticed were
significant. Women that took the calcium supplement showed lower loss of bone mass when
compared to those that did not take the supplement (Haywood, 2009).
As people age, bone loss or other conditions become a problem. Most of the conditions or
disorders are due to mineral imbalances. Some examples are: Osteomalacia, Rickets, Osteopenia,
and Osteoporosis. These are only a few examples of what a person could suffer at a late stage of
their life.
Studies have shown that many extrinsic factors can influence and affect bone loss.
However, studies only give possibilities and can not be directly linked to how things happen
exactly or how they are directly associated with bone problems. If people learn to watch for these
issues at an early age, prevention can be done and the reduction of many problems could
possibly be avoided.
References:
Floyd, R.T. (2007) Manual of Structural Kinesiology. (16th ed). McGraw Hill.
Haywood, K., Getchell, N., (2009). Life Span Motor Development, (5ed). Illinois:
Thomas-Shore.
Lujan, B., White, R., Human Physiology in Space. (2009). Retrieved November 23, 2009,
from http://www.nsbri.org/HumanPhysSpace/focus6/ep_development.html
Marieb, E.N. (2008) Human Anatomy & Physiology. (8th ed). Pearson Education.
Osteocyte. 351–429.
Schoenau, E., Saggese, G., Peter, F., Baroncelli, G., Shaw, N., Crabtree, N., et al. (2004).