A more sensitive technique is developed by scientists at Arizona State University and NASA for detecting bone loss early than the X-ray method used today, with less risk to patients.
“Osteoporosis, a disease in which bones grow weaker, threatens more than half of Americans over age 50,” explained Ariel Anbar, a professor in ASU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and senior author of the study.
“Bone loss also occurs in a number of cancers in their advanced stages. By the time these changes can be detected by X-rays, as a loss of bone density, significant damage has already occurred,” Anbar said. “Also, X-rays aren’t risk-free. We think there might be a better way.”
With the new technique, bone loss is detected by carefully analyzing the isotopes of the chemical element calcium that are naturally present in urine. Isotopes are atoms of an element that differ in their masses. Patients do not need to ingest any artificial tracers and are not exposed to any radiation, so there is virtually no risk, the authors noted.
The findings are presented in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It is titled “Rapidly assessing changes in bone mineral balance using natural stable calcium isotopes.”
The new study is funded by NASA.
“NASA conducts these studies because astronauts in microgravity experience skeletal unloading and suffer bone loss,” said co-author Scott M. Smith, NASA nutritionist. “It’s one of the major problems in human spaceflight, and we need to find better ways to monitor and counteract it. But the methods used to detect the effects of skeletal unloading in astronauts are also relevant to general medicine.”
Source: Arizona State University, USA