why do our bones break – Calcium Zone

Question: why do our bones break
- Keywords:
  bones,
  break,
  fracture
Asked by annelouise372 to Sara, Kimberley, Julia, Drew on 13 Jun 2011.
- Drew Rae answered on 13 Jun 2011:
  
  Ultimately, it comes down to mechanics. Bones break for the same reason that sticks break when you pull or twist them, and that bridges fall down. If you put enough force on the right direction on anything, it will bend or break. Most of our bones aren’t very bendy.
  
  Some people’s bones are stronger than others. This means that it needs more force to break them. Bones can get weaker over time too. Roughly speaking, it is the amount of calcium in the bones that makes up their strength, and for reasons that I don’t fully know women tend to lose more calcium then men, and so as they get older their bones become weaker faster.
- Julia Griffen answered on 13 Jun 2011:
  
  Hey AnneLouise….
  why do our bones break…Cus we have accidents and stuff… 🙂
  
  Women loose more calcium when they are old due to a decrease in the female hormone estrogen.
  
  So as Drew says, bones get weaker with age, and are more likely to break. But there are diseases that cause brittle bones, brittle bone disease is a genetic disorder, which results in really fragile bones… I wudn;t like that, considering how clumsey I can be!
- Kimberley Bryon answered on 13 Jun 2011:
  
  I wish that bones didn’t break, I have broken a fair few, currently have a broken finger. Fortunately although bones do break they are really good at fixing themselves.
  
  Did you know that the human femur is stronger than reinforced concrete?
- Sara Imari Walker answered on 13 Jun 2011:
  
  Whoah. Interesting fact from Kimberley! I had no idea the human femur was stronger than concrete. That is crazy!! I think Drew and Julia did a great job explaining why our bones break. I am fortunate to never have tested this on myself – yay! no broken bones ever here. It sounds like it would be painful =/

Question: why do our bones break

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