Stanton’s Healthy Home／Bone health starts at the cellular level
Westchester NY Stanton’s Healthy Home.LLC / director Haruko Stanton
The cells in your bones create everything from new bone to the blood pumping through your heart. But the main focus here will be on the structural components of your bone anatomy.
There are three types of cells that help maintain bone integrity. Their names tell us important information about their function. It is important to understand how bone cells operate. Knowing how your bones function can explain how braces straighten teeth and how broken bones heal.
The builder cells of the bone (osteo = bone; blast = germ, grow). Their name literally means bone growth. Osteoblasts make new bone and rebuild old or broken bones. These cube-shaped cells stack like building blocks. When osteoblasts come together, they secrete a flexible material called osteoid. Blood vessels and nearby bone cells deposit calcium and other mineral salts in the osteoid to make it hard and strong. After the osteoid hardens, those osteoblasts are stuck, and they transform into another type of bone cell—osteocytes.
Mature bone cells (osteo = bone, cyte = cell). They come from osteoblasts that have stopped making new bone. Osteocytes grow long branching arms that connect them to neighboring osteocytes. Through these connections they can exchange minerals and communicate through cell-signaling pathways. Osteocytes monitor the bone and detect mechanical stress. They tell osteoblasts when sections of bone need reinforcement.
The opposite of osteoblasts. Osteoclasts (osteo = bone, clast = break) break down bone. But this kind of bone breaking isn’t bad. Osteoclasts make room in and on bones for muscles and blood vessels. They also recycle old bone so new, healthy bone can replace it. This keeps bones strong and resistant to mechanical stress. Osteoclasts are large cells outlined with a ruffled border. Their wrinkled exterior grips tightly to bone. These cells secrete hydrochloric acid which strips minerals like calcium and phosphate from the bone. This process is called osteolysis (osteo = bone, lysis = break apart).
It’s a team effort between all these cells to maintain your bone health. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts perform opposite roles but work together to make your bones strong. When a bone is broken, osteoclasts remove the broken pieces and smooth any jagged edges. Osteoblasts add new bone to fill in the gaps.
It is difficult to see bone cells at work. But your teeth work like bones do,
and provide a good example.
To straighten crooked teeth, the bones in your jaw are constantly being broken down and repaired. Braces apply pressure to your teeth and jaw. This pressure stimulates osteoclasts to get rid of bone in the wrong place. Then osteoblasts put new bone in the right place. The result is a beautiful smile of straight teeth.
Red blood cells are formed in the red part of the bone marrow. Red bone marrow stem cells are called hematopoietic cells. They give rise to all the elements formed in the blood.
The formation of red blood cells takes about 2 days. The body makes about 2 million red blood cells per second!
References
https://askthescientists.com/bone-health/#toggle-id-1?id=12375686&source=copiedlink
Red blood cell production - Health Video: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
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