‘Significant’ space study offers hope for bone disease treatment | 24CA News
As the race to the Moon heats up once more, new house analysis could assist in the prevention and remedy of bone ailments.
A Canadian examine printed in Nature Communications on Aug. 9 recommended that the human physique can get better from bone loss by utilizing fats saved within the bone marrow tissue.
Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa tracked 14 astronauts who went on six-month lengthy missions between 2015 and 2022.
They discovered that when the astronauts landed again on Earth, they’d skilled vital bone loss and anemia – which is a depletion of purple blood cells. But they began recovering to regular ranges upon return to the Earth’s floor.
Interestingly, what the Ottawa researchers additionally found for the primary time was that publicity to house had brought about a 4.2 per cent discount within the astronauts’ bone marrow fats greater than a month after their return to Earth.
“The first explanation we have for that is … the fat could be used as a local source of energy because powering an increase in red blood cell production and making new bones is very energy-intensive and the energy has to come from somewhere,” mentioned Dr. Guy Trudel, a rehabilitation doctor on the Ottawa Hospital and co-author of the examine.
Trudel mentioned it’s a “significant new piece to the puzzle” that scientists didn’t find out about earlier than and it has necessary implications for each house exploration and power medical situations on Earth.
Osteoporosis, weight problems, glucose intolerance and metabolic syndrome have all been linked to extend in fats content material within the bone, however with no clear clarification of what function it performs in these situations.
“This is a good example of a model that will help us understand better some of those conditions on Earth,” Trudel mentioned.
He believes it received’t be lengthy earlier than their findings will be utilized in remedies and rehabilitation. It may also pave the way in which for a secondary software together with current medicine for diabetes, he mentioned.
“We may not (be) too, too far from being able to intervene once we understand the problem a bit better.”
Many international locations — and corporations — at the moment are beginning or renewing their house applications, competing to succeed in the Moon’s South Pole, the place there is likely to be ice, after which on to Mars.
The United States (and aligned international locations, together with Canada) are hoping to land people again on the moon by 2025, the Chinese by 2030.
One direct implication of the Ottawa examine, which was funded by the Canadian Space Agency, is to higher put together astronauts bodily for longer missions, mentioned Trudel.
Research has proven that human bones lose on common one to 5 per cent of mineral density per 30 days throughout spaceflight. Muscles may also weaken as a result of weak gravity on lengthy missions.
This is the place doing the appropriate workout routines can turn out to be useful and research are ongoing on that entrance.
“We are still actively involved in an upcoming research to try and improve those countermeasures to prevent the changes related to space,” Trudel mentioned.
— with information from Global News’ Nathaniel Dove
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
