Women Ribs Have "Calcifications", Men's don't!

[Ducklet Cat]

Hi,

I had an x-ray which showed my ribs. The doctor told me it looks like calcifications, but he is not sure and the report said nothing. So he told me to go back to the cardiologist and ask him what are these.


The cardiologist told me these are not calcifications, all women have small things on their ribs near the joints and this is normal.

I'm curious about that. Why is that? Is it because of our hormones or what?
What is the scientific name of that? He told me what they call it but I can';t recall it. It sounded like condra- something.


Thanks :)

[HITMAN]

Hi Ducklet,

Yes, your doctor is right

Calcifications of the costal cartilages are used as an indicator of the age & the gender, these rae useful in forensic studies for example

The rib cage is smaller in females, and so is the skull & hip et al

[Angel_Eyes]

would someone be kind enough to explain more what is Calcifications?:think:

[FaHaD]

calcification is the prossess of calcium deposition in the form of calcium phosphate, hydroxylapatite. This gives strength and solidity to the bone with the collagen backbone.

Ossification = calcification, a normal prosess which occur to cartilage during teh formation of the bone. happens during childhood , puberty and after bone fracture. Howvere, it also occur with aging and in disease conditions.

rib is made of 2 parts bone and cartilage. As hitman said, Calcification in cartilage is used as a marker of aging. It occur in females at much younger age than male

if interested more, then read the following .pdf article on summary of 1044 radiograms of Czech male and females
http://publib.upol.cz/~obd/fulltext/Biomed/2004/2/241.pdf

[Ducklet Cat]

Thank you Doctors. :)

So do all women have that?
What age do women start getting them?
Can it cause complications?
And most importantly, what cause that? Is it diet (I love dairy products) or hormones, or it is just ans evitable thing all women have?

Thanks again and eid mubarak. :cute:

[HITMAN]

Ducklet,

Yes, all have it

It increas with age & that's why it can be used by the forensic team for determining the approximate age

However, it's commonly seen after the age of 20 onwards, so now I can guess that you are not a teenager for instance

It'a normal process & not related to your diet, however, poor diet can worsen the osteoporotic process

[Ducklet Cat]

Thanks Dr. Hitman. :)