The muscle-bone relationship: methods and management—perspectives in glycogen storage disease

Abstract

Currently bone development is commonly presented as a process leading to the ‘accumulation of peak bone mass’. Consequently, the usual approach to a suspected bone disorder in a child is to address the question are this child’s bones as heavy as those of a healthy child of the same sex and age? However, from a functional perspective the aim of bone development should not be make bones as heavy as possible but to make them as stable as necessary. A functionally oriented approach should address two different questions: how strong are the bones? are they as strong as they need to be? It is clear that the bone has to be strong enough to withstand the mechanical forces to which it is exposed.Conclusion: since the main forces applied to bones are due to muscle action, the strength of a bone should be related to the force of the muscles attached to it.