Music against osteoporosis

Tests have begun on a revolutionary method of treating osteoporosis that uses playing a "musical note" to stem cells in the bone.

GearMix according to The Telegraph: Trial launched to cure osteoporosis by playing ‘quiet musical note’ to stem cells in body Translation: Serg Kite

(The original message can be read on the University of Strathclyde website: Millions of osteoporosis sufferers could be helped by Strathclyde research project – VM.)

According to the National Osteoporosis Society, in the UK alone, more than three million people suffer from osteoporosis, which causes about 500,000 bone fractures every year.

The disease usually develops slowly over several years and one of its consequences (in addition to the general thinning of the bones of the skeleton) is that the bone stem cells do not turn into bone, but into fat, which is often called bone fat.

Scientists hope that millions of people around the world suffering from osteoporosis can be cured by playing "quiet musical notes" to stem cells in the body, thereby encouraging them to turn into healthy bones.

British researchers are about to begin the first human trials of a new revolutionary therapy called "nanowalls", which stimulates stem cells by exposing them to low-frequency sound vibrations.

This treatment method can also help protect the health of astronauts whose bone condition worsens under the action of microgravity. This is especially important in terms of prevention, since this method of bone restoration paves the way for long-term space flights to Mars.

The technique was discovered by Scottish researchers in 2016, when they tried to create conditions for the transformation of stem cells into bone cells, simulating the same conditions as in the body.

In the end, they found that an internal sound with a frequency of about 1000 Hz turns stem cells into bone tissue in about 28 days. The experiments were carried out in a laboratory – scientists grew bone tissue in a Petri dish mounted on a vibrating laboratory table.

Now they plan to test this technique on patients with spinal injuries whose bones have thinned due to prolonged immobility.

Lead researcher, Professor Stuart Reid from the University of Strathclyde, said: "In this study, we will apply emitters directly to the legs of patients with spinal injury. The goal of the experiments is to elicit the same response in the patients' bodies that we received in the laboratory."

"The emitters attached to the patients' legs will reproduce the same quiet musical note, close in frequency to the note "up to "the third octave".

The positive results of the experiments may mean that this technology has the prospect of being used not only as a therapy for those who already suffer from osteoporosis, but also for those who are at risk of developing it.

Another project manager, Dr. Sylvie Coupeau, who has experience in rehabilitation measures for patients with spinal cord injuries, said: "Currently there is no effective approach to the treatment of osteoporosis for such patients – it is only diagnosed, but absolutely not treated."

"Working closely with the Department of Spinal Injuries, we have already developed reliable methods to detect the occurrence of osteoporosis within a few weeks after injury; and now we are looking forward to effective techniques to slow down bone loss before a fracture occurs."

The same technique can also help people with complex bone fractures, for which currently the only option is to perform a painful operation, when doctors cut out a part of the bone from a healthy part of the body and then transplant it to the damaged area.

The first clinical trials of surgical bone grafts grown in the laboratory from stem cells by a new method will begin closer to the end of 2020.

The importance of conducting this test drew the attention of Science Minister Chris Skidmore, who stated: "This study offers great hope for slowing down or even reversing the disease."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru