Looking at bone health continually reminds me of the wonders of the human body. When everything is functioning, osteoblasts and osteoclasts work together to remove injured and old bone and lay down new bone. We are designed to have healthy bones throughout our lives, even in old age.

If bone metabolism is working optimally, every eight to 10 years we get a new skeleton as old and injured bone is discarded and new bone is formed. This process never stops, even in old age.

That is not to say that the bones of an 80 year old are as strong and thick as the bones of a 20 year old. Just as we lose muscle mass, the aging process will result in thinner bones. And as a result, an 80-year-old will be at an increased risk of bone fractures compared to a 20 year old.

There’s nothing surprising about that.

Compared to a 20 year old, an 80 year old will also have less muscle mass, less hair, and thinner skin. These conditions do not imply aging is a disease; they are simply the result of aging. You can age gracefully with healthy, strong bones or with weakened, thin bones.

Conventional medicine does not recognize this because they solely rely on bone mineral density testing to diagnose osteoporosis.