Bone Turnover

·  Based on your review of the statistics in the study, do you agree with the study’s conclusions? Why or why not?

Carbon-14 is incorporated in the tissues of plants and animals through their environment. When they die the incorporation of carbon-14 ends, and what remains in the specimen decays at a constant rate, with a half-life of

2) Carbon -14 would not be effective at dating bones that are millions of years old. Carbon -14 is effective at dating to a maximum of 40 000 to 50 000 years old. The isotope decays over time and would not be present on bones that are millions of years old.

While these studies provide positive results the draw back to them are that the sample groups for each were considerably small which means that there is insufficient evidence to support

In a 2003 paper, Maurer and others tested the effects of neutralization of endogenous acid production by bicarbonate ingestion on calcium balance, bone markers, and endocrine systems. An increase in calcium retention and a decrease in bone resorption followed neutralization of dietary acid load. Consequently, the trial provided evidence for the acid-ash hypothesis and the alkaline diet (reduced risk of osteoporosis). Alternatively,

There are a plethora of health issues that contribute to bone loss, such as nutrition (low calcium consumption) and rarely engaging in exercise, people who have an unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking or extreme alcohol usage are also at risk. “Bone loss in adolescence and early adulthood can be a result of a failure to attain peak bone mineral density, and accelerated bone loss may be particularly noted around menopause and in later years” (Lin, 2014, para. 1). Though the exact cause is unknown, additional sources may include latent health disorders such as thyroid problems.

| The discussion is focused on the topic with ample evidence from the literature. The literature is critiqued. (21.5-25)

The United States tested nuclear bombs, “215 A- and H-bombs” (www.nukewatch.com) above ground between 1951 and 1963 in the Nevada Test Site. Fifty years later, the U.S government studies stated that over 80,000 people who lived or were born in the U.S suffered from cancer caused by radioactive fall-out from nuclear testing. Over 15,000 of them died. Many of whom were from the states close to the testing sites, called the “downwinders,” Utah, Idaho and other states. From the Nevada Test Site the winds carried nuclear radiation fallout, filled with “iodine-131” which caused “75,000 thyroid cancers, ten percent of which are estimated to have been fatal, and strontium-90 and cesium-137, which are dangerous for between 280 and 300 years,” (nukewatch) likely causes of bone and skin cancer and leukemia. Therefore, there is some strong evidence that nuclear fall-out in the 1950s did cause cancer.

The authors relied heavily on two studies to create their argument. The first study mentioned was the Pinto et al article. In this study, "Pinto and colleagues (5) assessed the

Biochemical markers of bone turnover, or bone turnover markers, represent bone matrix components or enzymes that are released into the circulation during bone formation or resorption (Lukaszkiewicz et al., 2001). Some bone turnover markers can be recovered and quantitated in the urine (Bilezikian et al., 2015 ). bone turnover markers have the potential to yield information about the metabolic status of bone (Bilezikian et al., 2015 ). They can be categorized as bone formation markers and bone resorption markers as in Table ( 2.1).

The lowest BMD values were found for the oldest group of females. Fractures among the population were found and results indicated that the majority of fractures that originated in the wrist, the neck or the hip were tightly related with osteoporosis. The relationship between BMD and an individual’s age seem to endorse the hypothesis. They also found that Neolithic females were found to have considerably higher BMD than those from the historical period. This suggests that Neolithic females had better bone maintenance than in the historical period. Thus, a change of BMD must have occurred in the period between the Neolithic and the early Middle

Cullen and Gendreau compare and contrast the many studies on this subject, the meta-analyses conclusions, their strengths, weaknesses, inconsistencies, and the trends that follow the studies

subsequent rate of bone loss. At issue is whether either or both of these variables is

This study was limited due to the small sample size. Although the conclusions are valid, more research with a

Estimating the age at time of death from an unidentified individual’s remains is an important factor of forensic anthropology. There are certain standard processes and procedures that are employed in the lab to help determine the age as well as other biological profile data. In young adults, bone and tooth maturation are often used to roughly estimate the age of the body. In adults, the deterioration of bones is used to predict the age of the unknown body.