Science Society Discusses Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease that affects a surprising number of people. It can cause, pain and put them at risk of a variety of health complications. This week the Noar of the Science Society explored its impact and treatment.
This article was written by Noar in the Lower Sixth. He has a keen interest in the sciences and is an active member of the Science Society.
On 9th January, Science Society were treated to another well researched and presented talk on osteoporosis by Noar. Osteoporosis is a bone disease which is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD). It affects almost 20% of women aged over 50 and 5% of men aged 50 and over, and it causes pain in patients
due to bone fractures.
Osteoporosis patients are at a higher risk of bone fractures due to their lower bone mineral density causing a weaker bone. It can be prevented by having a high
calcium diet, having a high vitamin D diet and increasing oestrogen/testosterone among other hormones.
Osteoporosis can be treated using anabolic and antiresorptive drugs. Anabolic drugs stimulate the cells that build up the bone (Osteoblasts) and antiresorptive drugs slow down the cells that break down the bone. An example of an anabolic drug is teriparatide which works by attaching to receptors on the osteoblasts which
promotes the anabolic effects on the bone. This comes with certain side effects such as inflammation, diarrhoea, constipation, and joint pain. An antiresorptive drug, such as bisphosphonates, work by using a mechanism which attaches to hydroxyapatite binding sites on bony surfaces undergoing active resorption. However, like
teriparatide, this also has its own side effects, such as osteonecrosis of the jaw, gastrointestinal discomfort, femoral fractures, and flu like symptoms.
Stem cell treatment is in its early stages and has the hope of being able to strengthen bone affected by osteoporosis. However, it has many ethical concerns associated with certain types of stem cells such pluripotent stem cells which come from the embryo. Further, some of the stem cells used to treat osteoporosis are mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in the bone marrow. Hopefully, in the future, stem cell treatment is developed to its full potential and current treatments become more affective as currently they are on a 25.9% decrease in fracture risk overall.