Bone's material and structural strength

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The material composition and structural design of bone determine its strength. Structure determines loads that can be tolerated but the reverse also applies - loads determine structure. Bone can modify its material composition and structural design to accommodate loads by adaptive modeling and remodeling. RECENT FINDINGS: Adaptation is successful during growth; however, with advancing age, bone eventually fails to maintain strength because of the accumulated insults of sex hormone deficiency, secondary hyperparathyroidism, reduced activity, loss of muscle mass and emerging age-related abnormalities in the cellular machinery of modeling and remodeling itself. Accelerated re..