Skull may hold the key to osteoporosis

LONDON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- British researchers say the differences between the bone which makes up the skull and the bone in limbs could be key to tackling bone weakness and fractures.

Dr. Simon Rawlinson of Queen Mary, University of London, says although bones in the arms and legs become weak and vulnerable to breaks when they are not maintained by weight bearing exercise, skull bone, which bears almost no weight remains resistant to breaking.

Rawlinson says the researchers looked in detail at rat bone cells from the skull and compared them with cells from limb bone. They found differences between the appearance of the cells and how they behaved in the laboratory.

The researchers also found treating the cells with estrogen had a far greater effect on the cells from the limb bone.

The study, published in PLoS ONE, found a total of 1,236 cells -- around 4 percent of the genome -- were showing different levels of activity in the two types of bone cell.

"This research is exciting because it tells us why our skulls remain so tough as we age compared to the bones in our arms and legs," Rawlinson says in a statement. "Now we understand this phenomenon better, we also understand osteoporosis better."