AGE-RELATED ALTERATIONS IN SKELETAL METABOLISM - 24-HR WHOLE-BODY RETENTION OF DIPHOSPHONATE IN 250 NORMAL SUBJECTS - CONCISE COMMUNICATION

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 23  (4) , 296-300
Abstract
Twenty-four-hour measurements of whole-body retention (WBR) of 99mTc diphosphonate (a sensitive measure of skeletal metabolism) were obtained in 250 healthy volunteer [human] subjects. WBR values were found to fall from the age of 20 yr until 35 yr and then in men to rise linearly thereafter. Women showed a similar pattern initially but there was a marked rise in WBR corresponding to the menopausal years. Apparently, skeletal metabolism increases with age. Apparently, some imbalance must always exist between resorption and formation in bone, with net loss of bone mineral, and increasing levels of skeletal metabolism will exaggerate this imbalance and accelerate the rate of bone loss.