Our skeleton is more than just bones, vertebrae and joints. In fact, it is an active organ that is constantly linked to our brain, our muscles and our fatty tissue. Stem cells – the body’s most important cells – are formed in the skeleton, which is also home to hormones that control the body’s blood sugar and obesity by sending signals to other organs.
New research has now revealed that raised levels of obesity hormone in the blood could be connected to osteoporosis.
Dan Mellström, a researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy and consultant at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, is a leading expert in osteoporosis. As part of an international research project studying the risk factors associated with osteoporosis in elderly men, he and his colleagues have been looking into the obesity hormone adiponectin. This research has now shown that people with raised levels of this hormone also have more fragile skeletons and more fractures, as well as reduced muscle strength and lower muscle mass, increasing the risk of fractures. High adiponectin also seems to be related to increased functional ageing.
“High levels of adiponectin in the elderly seem to be associated with both reduced functioning of the musculature and a more fragile skeleton,” says Mellström. “This means a higher risk of fractures and falls, and also increased mortality.”
The results are based on the Mr OS study, led from the Sahlgrenska Academy, which is looking into the risk factors for osteoporosis in elderly men. The study includes around 11,000 men in Sweden, the USA and Hong Kong.OSTEOPOROSIS
Helena Aaberg | idw
GLUT5 fluorescent probe fingerprints cancer cells
20.04.2018 | Michigan Technological University
Scientists re-create brain neurons to study obesity and personalize treatment
20.04.2018 | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
University of Connecticut researchers have created a biodegradable composite made of silk fibers that can be used to repair broken load-bearing bones without the complications sometimes presented by other materials.
Repairing major load-bearing bones such as those in the leg can be a long and uncomfortable process.
Study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is the outcome of an international effort that included teams from Dresden and Berlin in Germany, and the US.
Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) together with colleagues from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the University of Virginia...
Novel highly efficient and brilliant gamma-ray source: Based on model calculations, physicists of the Max PIanck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg propose a novel method for an efficient high-brilliance gamma-ray source. A giant collimated gamma-ray pulse is generated from the interaction of a dense ultra-relativistic electron beam with a thin solid conductor. Energetic gamma-rays are copiously produced as the electron beam splits into filaments while propagating across the conductor. The resulting gamma-ray energy and flux enable novel experiments in nuclear and fundamental physics.
The typical wavelength of light interacting with an object of the microcosm scales with the size of this object. For atoms, this ranges from visible light to...
Stable joint cartilage can be produced from adult stem cells originating from bone marrow. This is made possible by inducing specific molecular processes occurring during embryonic cartilage formation, as researchers from the University and University Hospital of Basel report in the scientific journal PNAS.
Certain mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from the bone marrow of adults are considered extremely promising for skeletal tissue regeneration. These adult stem...
In the fight against cancer, scientists are developing new drugs to hit tumor cells at so far unused weak points. Such a “sore spot” is the protein complex...
13.04.2018 | Event News
12.04.2018 | Event News
09.04.2018 | Event News
20.04.2018 | Physics and Astronomy
20.04.2018 | Interdisciplinary Research
20.04.2018 | Physics and Astronomy