HHS HealthBeat (June 29, 2010)

Older bones

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Our bones seem stable, but they actually are always changing. We’re depositing new bone minerals and removing old.

As we get older, though, our bodies can take away more than they add, so our bones get weaker. Researcher Joseph Cannon of the Medical College of Georgia says one reason is that the protein interleukin-1 signals certain cells to remove bone minerals.

But Cannon’s study says exercise can help fight bone loss. He notes that bone responds to exercise by growing thicker. And he says:

"Our work suggests that exercise also helps maintain bone density by inhibiting interleukin-1, a factor that stimulates bone breakdown."   (8 seconds)

The study presented at the American Physiological Society’s Experimental Biology Conference was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 21, 2011