Читать книгу The Healthy Thyroid: What you can do to prevent and alleviate thyroid imbalance - Patsy Westcott - Страница 20

The thyroid is crucial in maintaining the strength and density of our bones. The parafollicular cells of the thyroid produce the hormone calcitonin, which is involved in regulating calcium levels in the body. As well as being the main mineral used for making bone, calcium is needed to trigger impulses in nerve and muscle cells.

Calcitonin acts with another hormone – parathyroid hormone (PTH) – produced by the parathyroid glands, four tiny glands that lie behind the thyroid. Whenever calcium is needed, PTH raises the levels of calcium in the blood by stimulating the release of calcium from bone, increasing the reabsorption of calcium from the kidneys and converting vitamin D into a hormone that increases gut absorption of calcium. Once calcium levels have been increased, the thyroid releases calcitonin to suppress the release of calcium from bone.