In children and adolescents, most bones are made up of cartilage. The growth cartilage at the ends of the bones gradually transforms into bone through the process of ossification. The specific information about growth cartilage in the following article of Debametulam will help you better understand the physical growth of people through each stage.
What is growth cartilage?
Growth cartilage is the cartilage structure located at the ends of long bones. This growth cartilage only exists during the period of development, disappearing when people pass puberty, up to 20 years old. The process of proliferation of growth cartilage will directly affect human height growth.
The structure of growth cartilage consists of chondrocytes suspended in a skeleton made of collagen fibers. Chondrocytes will go through several stages of maturation until they die, and are replaced by osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and hard bones.
What is the function of growth cartilage?
Height increases due to elongation of bones. Bone growth in length occurs at the growth plate. Growth cartilage located at the ends of bones will undergo ossification, gradually transforming into bone. Simultaneously, the process of new cartilage production will also take place. It can be seen that growth cartilage plays an important role in the development of bones and human height.
Where is growth cartilage located?
Growth cartilage is usually located at the ends of long bones such as femur, foot bone, hand bone, vertebrae, etc. These are also the bones responsible for supporting the body and determining height growth. . It is the location of growth cartilage in the body that shows us how important it is to natural physical growth.
The development of bone and cartilage growth
Growth cartilage is surrounded by hard and spongy bone. The surface of the cartilage will be gradually invaded by osteoblasts. These osteoblasts deposit minerals on one side of the growth plate. Along with that, chondrocytes in the growth plate continue to synthesize cartilage maintaining the mass of the growth plate.
As a result, the bones lengthen continuously throughout the growth process. Collagen and other proteins, as well as polysaccharides at the mineralized surface of growth cartilage, are catabolized and replaced by bone-specific proteins and polysaccharides by osteoblasts. When reaching adulthood, the growth cartilage is completely replaced by bone and the production of growth cartilage stops.
How to stimulate cartilage growth to develop effectively?
The process of growth cartilage production is regulated by chondrocytes and many humoral factors including growth hormone, parathyroid hormone, estrogen, cytokines and other factors of little influence. Stimulating good growth cartilage is also a way to improve height quickly.
Sunbathing
In fact, the development of growth cartilage has a circadian cycle lasting 24 hours. Sun exposure activates the transcription of various regulatory peptides, including those that control skeletal growth and homeostasis. Therefore, spend time in the sun 15-20 minutes a day to stimulate cartilage growth.
Maintain a reasonable body weight
Being overweight puts pressure on cartilage, causing it to experience increased compression beyond the capacity it is designed to handle, hindering cartilage growth. Therefore, maintain a weight within the standard threshold, suitable for age and height to help cartilage growth and development smoothly.
Drink water
65-80% by weight of cartilage is water, which helps cartilage maintain high stability. Adding enough water will help ensure fluid in the cartilage, increase the bearing capacity and help the cartilage synthesis process to be highly effective.
Motor
Cyclic sports such as swimming, cycling, walking, lifting weights will stimulate the production of cartilage more. Please actively practice these height increasing sports every day for good cartilage development.
Scientific diet
Applying a diet with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help strengthen cartilage and promote cartilage growth, while taking care of good health.
At what age does growth cartilage begin to close?
As puberty nears its end, growth cartilage enters the aging process under the influence of hormones. The extent of growth cartilage at the ends of the bones gradually decreases. The size of chondrocytes decreased, and the proliferative capacity of growth cartilage stem cells decreased.
In addition, the increased production of estrogen during puberty also begins to control the supply of nutrients to the cells in the cartilage, causing cartilage to no longer grow when puberty ends.
The age of growth cartilage closure can vary from person to person due to genetic factors and daily health care habits, but is usually not more than 20 years old. Therefore, improving height after this age is mostly ineffective. When the growth cartilage completely fuses with the bone, the bone can no longer grow, the height officially stops growing. Making the most of the period before the age of 20 to improve height is the optimal choice to get outstanding stature as an adult.
Cartilage growth, although only exists for the first 20 years, then disappears completely, but plays an important role in human physical growth. Paying attention to health care and improving the development of growth cartilage in the first 20 years of life will help you get a standard height and healthy bones and joints.
