Eva is 8 years old, and throughout her childhood, every bone, muscle, and sinew is continually lengthening in a coordinated fashion.

And what determines how tall she, and all of us, grow starts not in our bones, but in the brain.

From a pea-sized gland known as the pituitary, growth hormone is released throughout our lives. Growth hormone plays a number of important roles in the adult body,

including the regulation of our metabolism and the ability to maintain steady blood glucose levels. But during childhood, as high levels of growth hormone surge through our entire body, it has a far greater effect.

Traveling through the bloodstream, it stimulates the liver to produce an insulin-like chemical, growth factor-1. This causes muscle and cartilage cells to multiply; it's the secret behind how tall we grow.

At the ends of the long bones of our arms and legs are the epiphyseal plates, or growth plates,

soft disks made of cartilage. And it's here that growth factor-1 works its magic

by stimulating the cartilage cells into rapid division. These new cells push the older cells toward the center, where they harden,

gradually elongating the bone and making us taller.

The secret behind long bone growth - The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed - Grow - BBC

The BBC is the world’s leading public service broadcaster.

We’re impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in the UK and around the world.

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel to get the best of BBC entertainment and comedy programmes, stories from science and nature documentaries, and much more! 👉 https://bit.ly/2IXqEIn

Get ALL your fresh TV, and sofa-hugging box sets on iPlayer 👉 https://bbc.in/2J18jYJ

뼈의 성장과 그 조정에 대한 소개

에바의 성장은 어린 시절의 뼈, 근육, 힘줄이 조화롭게 길어지는 과정을 잘 보여줍니다.

뇌하수체와 성장호르몬의 역할

키 결정은 뇌의 뇌하수체에서 시작됩니다.

뇌하수체는 성인의 신진대사와 혈당 조절에 중요한 성장호르몬을 분비합니다.

어린 시절의 높은 성장 호르몬 수치는 성장에 큰 영향을 미칩니다.

성장호르몬은 간을 자극하여 성장인자-1을 생성하여 근육과 연골 세포를 증식시킵니다.

성장판(골단판)은 긴 뼈의 끝에 위치합니다.

성장 인자-1은 성장판의 빠른 연골 세포 분열을 촉진합니다.

새로운 세포는 오래된 세포를 중앙으로 밀어내어 뼈를 단단하게 만들어 뼈를 길게 만듭니다.