Calcitonin
Also called: thyrocalcitonin, calcitonin hormone, Miacalcin
What it means
Calcitonin is a hormone from the thyroid gland that helps lower blood calcium by slowing down osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.
Understanding calcitonin helps you see how your body naturally balances calcium and bone breakdown, which is part of the bigger picture of bone health.
Calcitonin is a hormone made by special cells in the thyroid gland called C-cells. Its main job is to help lower calcium levels in the blood by telling osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone, to slow down. It works in the opposite direction from parathyroid hormone, which raises blood calcium.
In day-to-day life, calcitonin's effect in healthy adults is fairly modest compared to other hormones involved in bone and calcium balance. It becomes more clinically useful as a treatment in certain conditions, such as Paget's disease, where bone turnover is unusually high, and it has historically been used as an injectable or nasal spray medication for some cases of osteoporosis or bone pain.
If you've been prescribed calcitonin or are wondering whether it fits into your bone health plan, that decision belongs to your doctor, who can weigh it against other options based on your situation. It's just one piece of a larger hormonal system, alongside parathyroid hormone and vitamin D, that keeps your bones and blood calcium in balance.
Calcitonin is a thyroid hormone that lowers blood calcium by slowing down bone-breakdown cells.
Where this leads
WordYou just read that calcitonin slows these bone-breakdown cells, so curious what osteoclasts actually do and why they sometimes overact?
Where the Academy teaches it
This page is the short version. The lessons teach it in full, with the context around it and a quiz to lock it in.
Related words
A parathyroid hormone (PTH) test measures the amount of PTH in your blood, usually alongside calcium, to help find…
Paget's disease is a condition where bone remodeling speeds up too much in specific spots, creating new bone that's…
Osteoclasts are the cells that break down old bone tissue, working alongside bone-building osteoblasts to constantly…
Vitamin D is a nutrient that helps your gut absorb calcium so it can be used to build and maintain bone.
Teriparatide (Forteo) is a daily injected medication that stimulates bone-building cells to form new bone, rather…
Hyperparathyroidism is when overactive parathyroid glands release too much hormone, causing your bones to lose…
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
