Author: Joe Fowler
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
As a result of hormonal imbalance, the stem cells contained in the bones can be transformed into adipocytes ...
American doctors from the Children's Hospital in Boston conducted a study of bone strength in 40 young girls with an average age of 16 years.
Half of the participants in the study suffered from anorexia. The results obtained in the study were compared with those obtained from healthy volunteers.
Both groups of girls underwent imaging of the bones of the legs and knee joints using magnetic resonance imaging.
The results of the study showed that girls with anorexia had a reduced amount of red bone marrow, and that there was more fat in the femurs and shins than in healthy girls.
The results of the study were published in the February issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The study's author, Catherine Gordon, notes that people with malnutrition have a number of hormonal changes. As a result of hormonal imbalance, the stem cells contained in the bone marrow can be transformed into fat cells (adipocytes).
In violation of the normal formation of bone cells, slows down or completely stops bone growth. In more severe cases, the development of osteoporosis is possible.
The cause of fat cell deposition in bone has not yet been fully studied, but according to one theory, it is the body's attempt to self-preserve and conserve as much energy as possible.