What roles do hormones play in bone health?
What are osteoclasts and osteoblasts? Bone is living tissue and throughout life your body continually replaces old bone with new bone. Osteoclasts are special cells that resorb (dissolve) old bone. Osteoblasts are the special cells that build new bone. Diet, exercise, mineral balance, vitamin D status, and hormone balance all affect the rates of resorption and bone building. Estrogens slow the action of osteoclasts. Therefore, increasing estrogen slows your bone loss. Progesterone , testosterone, androstenedrone, DHEA, and growth hormone all increase the action of osteoblasts. Therefore, increasing the levels of any of these hormones increases the rate at which you build new bone. Hormones play extremely important roles in maintaining your bone health.
