Health Headlines: Researching osteoporosis in space

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Approximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis. Another 44 million are at risk of getting it. One in two women and one in four men will break a bone during their lifetime. Finding new treatments to help strengthen bones is crucial. That’s why one researcher is focusing on just that, making bones stronger, and she’s not only doing it in the lab, but also up in space.

Astronaut Frank Rubio didn’t realize he would be making history when he left for a six-month mission to the international space station. But delays kept him in orbit for 371 days, logging the longest time spent in space than any other US astronaut.

“Being in microgravity is a lot of fun, mostly because you get to float around,” Rubio says while demonstrating.

But all that floating takes a toll on your body, especially your bones. Previous research has shown astronauts lose decades worth of bone mass in space.

University of Central Florida orthopedics and bone researcher, Melanie Coathup explains, “I’m really intrigued in developing new ways of boosting bone repair, but when it’s under challenging conditions.”

The NIH reports that nearly all cancer patients who undergo radiation are at an increased risk for bone loss and fractures.

“The damage that ionizing radiation causes to bone, it can be quite significant. And there’s no therapy out there at the moment that can help to protect the bone,” Coathup further explains.

Coathup helped develop a synthetic bone substitute material called Inductigraft, which boosts bone repair and regeneration and is currently developing a “nano enzyme” that helps protect cells against d-n-a damage caused by radiotherapy.

Coathup poses the question, “How do we get that bone repair response to really ramp up and heal?”

The answer may help keep bones strong, whatever extreme circumstances they may face.

Researcher Coathup is also looking at how fluid changes in the bones impact astronauts in microgravity. Finding out the answers may be critical considering we are in a space race to land a person on mars by the late 2030s. That trip will take a minimum of seven months to reach the planet.

Contributors to this news report include Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer & Editor.

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