Colorado State University Study Of Sheep Finds Promising Treatment For Osteoporosis
Monday, May 12, 1997
FORT COLLINS--A Colorado State University study of bone loss
in female sheep has unveiled a possible treatment for
osteoporosis, a debilitating disease that affects 10 million
people in the United States.
In a one-year pilot study of 18 adult female sheep, clinical
sciences Professor Simon Turner found that bone density in the
hind legs of sheep increased when they were regularly exposed to
a metal plate emitting a subtle but high-frequency vibration.
Using a method called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bone
density measurements were taken at seven areas in each ewe at the
beginning of the study and every three months. Half the ewes were
constrained in a chute so their hind legs stood on the vibrating
plate for 20 minutes a day, five days a week over a one-year
period.
The ewes whose hind legs were regularly exposed to the
vibrations showed a 3 percent increase in bone density compared
with the ewes that did not undergo treatment. Most of the
increase in bone density in the sheep subjected to the vibrations
occurred in the first six months of the study, then leveled out
in the last six months, Turner said.
The Colorado State study--conducted with noted researchers
Clint Rubin and Ken McCloud at State University of New York at
Stony Brook--points to the possibility of using vibrations in
some form as a non-drug treatment for osteoporosis.
Numerous risk factors are related to the development of
osteoporosis, including lack of exercise, a diet low in calcium
and estrogen deficiency after menopause. Because women can lose
up to 20 percent of bone mass in the five to seven years
following menopause, doctors often prescribe estrogen replacement
therapy to help prevent bone loss and treat other symptoms of
menopause. Turner points out that some women are reluctant to
take hormones or experience side effects, prompting drug
companies to call for effective alternatives.
The vibrating plate appears to mimic the benefits of
exercise without subjecting bone to intense strain, Turner said.
Subjecting bones to vibrations at high frequencies (such as those
used in the study) may be an ideal treatment for older, less
active women with osteoporosis.
"These findings are very promising," Turner said. "A three
percent increase in bone density may not sound like a lot, but it
may be enough to take a person out of the risk zone for
fractures. They may still be classified as having osteoporosis,
but every little bit of added bone density may help."
Results from the pilot study were so promising that the
National Institutes of Health has funded a more comprehensive,
$1.2 million study over the next four years. Scheduled to begin
this month, the study will analyze the effects of different
frequencies and durations of exposure on bone density.
The project also will compare the effects of different
vibration exposures on ewes with and without ovaries. Ewes
without ovaries--which have lower estrogen levels than those with
ovaries--will be allowed to lose bone mass for one year before
being exposed to vibrations. Researchers are hopeful that the use
of vibrations will not only help prevent additional bone loss,
but also will prove effective in adding bone.
Turner and his research assistants will conduct all of the
testing and experiments on the sheep at Colorado State, while
researchers at Stony Brook will be responsible for laboratory and
clinical analysis generated from the study
"Our hypothesis is that there is a certain frequency and a
certain length of exposure that will produce maximum results in
terms of increasing bone density," Turner said. "Once we know
what that benchmark is, we'll know more specifically how low
intensity, high-frequency vibrations might benefit women with
osteoporosis. It isn't very practical for older women to head to
the gym to work out and strengthen bone. These low-intensity
vibrations may be an alternative."
Turner's study of sheep over the past several years has
proven they are a suitable comparison for investigating the
effects of menopause in women. In other research projects, Turner
has found that ewes without ovaries mimicked many of the same
physiological effects found in post-menopausal women, including
bone loss and changes in the makeup of blood vessels. Turner will
further pursue the possible link between estrogen deficiency and
heart disease--the leading killer of women--in a separate sheep
study funded for $74,000 by the National Institutes of Aging.
Turner's expertise using sheep as a model for post-
menopausal osteoporosis led researchers at Stony Brook to form a
partnership with Colorado State's Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
In previous studies, Stony Brook had been able to document the
benefits of high-frequency vibrations on bone density in the legs
of turkeys, but researchers needed a model that was more similar
to women with osteoporosis.
Finding alternative treatments for the disease will give
physicians and patients more choices in dealing with
osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and
deterioration of bone tissue. According to the National Resource
Center for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases, 10 million
Americans have osteoporosis and 18 million others have low enough
bone mass to place them at risk for the disease. The center says
osteoporosis is responsible for 1.5 million hip, spine and wrist
fractures annually and $14 billion a year in directly related
health care costs.
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