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Bone Loss and Osteoporosis pp 121–138Cite as

Functional Adaptation and Fragility of the Skeleton

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Abstract

It is human nature that our perspectives on various subjects are colored by expectations derived from previous experiences, and this includes our attempts to understand the physiology and pathology of the skeleton. Medical students, having studied biochemistry far more than mechanics, often regard the skeleton as a static, mechanical framework on which are hung all the more interesting, biochemical parts of the body. In this view, the only physiologically interesting role of the skeleton is as a calcium reservoir, and beyond that its medical significance is summarized by the word “fractures.” Anthropology students, on the other hand, learn to value the skeleton as the part of the body that survives death, decay, and geological storage. A surviving bone may be examined at great length to try to elicit the behaviors, diet, illnesses, and other characteristics of its former owner. To obtain a more complete understanding of the role and function of the skeleton from any perspective, perhaps we should all try to see the skeleton from a bone’s own standpoint. This Chapter attempts to do that in the light of new developments in bone biology and mechanics that are of great consequence for both medicine and anthropology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, University of California at Davis School of Medicine, USA

    R. Bruce Martin

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  1. R. Bruce Martin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Canada

    Sabrina C. Agarwal

  2. Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, USA

    Sam D. Stout

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Martin, R.B. (2003). Functional Adaptation and Fragility of the Skeleton. In: Agarwal, S.C., Stout, S.D. (eds) Bone Loss and Osteoporosis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8891-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8891-1_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4708-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8891-1

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