The bones of growing children will be discussed at a free University of Queensland public lecture at UQ St Lucia this month.
Professor of Medicine at The University of Arkansas Professor Michael Parfitt will discuss Human Postnatal Bone Growth: New Concepts at the Wells Bequest Public Lecture for 2000 on Tuesday, October 31.
The lecture will be in the Physiology Lecture Theatre (Building 63), room 360 at 6pm.
Professor Parfitt said the bones of children needed to be of the size and shape appropriate to their age and of sufficient strength to support current physical activity.
"As well as these immediate needs, at the completion of growth the bones must be able to meet the lifetime load bearing demands during adulthood," he said. "Consequently, bone growth is necessary for the health not just of the present child but of the future adult."
In collaboration with Dr Frances Glorieux at the Montreal Shriner's Hospital for children, Professor Parfitt demonstrated that spongy bone in the central skeleton grows in a different manner than spongy bone at the ends of the long bones.
About half of the new central spongy bone added during growth is made by tunnelling solid cortical bone from the inside, the same process that leads to thinning of cortical bone in the aging skeleton. Furthermore, individual plates of spongy bone become thicker by remodelling. This is the bone replacement mechanism that in the adult skeleton leads to bone loss rather than bone gain.
Professor Parfitt was Senior Lecturer in medicine at The University of Queensland from 1962 to 1971 and then Director of Bone and Mineral Research at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit until 1985. He is currently Professor of Medicine at The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. In 1995 he received the Bartter Award of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Associate Professor Robert Gemmell of the Anatomical Sciences Department will chair the lecture.
Enquiries to Mrs Gabrielle Pascoe, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Phone (07) 3365 2722, Fax (07) 3365 7261, Email gabrielle@mailbox.uq.edu.au
Media: Further information, Dr Bob Gemmell, telephone 07 3365 2722 or Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248 or email: communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
