Metabolic changes in bone in old age.

The authors conducted a study on the effect of aging upon the factors which regulate calcium metabolism. Hormonal and biochemical tests were performed on samples from patients selected on the basis of sex, age, and other characteristics in order to determine the trend of these regulatory factors in middle and old age, with particular attention to osteoporosis in women. The authors propose several theories regarding the pathogenetic mechanisms of osteoporosis on the basis of this study as well as the literature.