Home

Site Map

Links

News


Advanced Search

HomeAbout Prognosis and impactsIncidence and risk factorsSymptomsDiagnosis and evaluation Management and treatment CopingResearchCondition research Pharmaceutical research Non-surgical research Surgical research Cellular, genetics, or tissue research Conclusion

Print Complete Article
View article with questions

Home « Clinical Services « Arthritis

Osteoporosis

Last updated Tuesday, May 15, 2007

<< Previous Page

Next Page >>

Research

Condition research

The disease osteoporosis was ignored by medical researchers for many years. As recently as 1980 there were only a dozen grants from the National Institutes of Health about this condition. Currently, however, the situation has turned around and now there are hundreds of studies. New treatments are being discovered, new genes are being identified, new methods of prevention are being tested.

Pharmaceutical research

Currently pharmaceutical companies are conducting clinical trials with medicines that have looked promising in preliminary studies. Many of these drugs don't even have a name yet.

Non-surgical research

There are also trials for a unique form of exercise which involves small, frequent vibrations. Preliminary results are encouraging. Some of the vibrating machines, however, can cause damage to the bone, so these treatments should not be used until studies are more definite.

Surgical research

Studies of the effects of surgical treatment for osteoporosis involve testing the safety of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.

Cellular, genetics, or tissue research

New genes for osteoporosis are discovered every year. This is an area of interest to many scientists. The stem cells in the bone marrow (which make the blood) interact with the cells of the bone, and scientists are working to understand these relationships.

Surgery for Osteoporosis at the University of Washington

If you are interested in making an appointment to discuss this procedure, you can request an appointment using our online referrals website. To request a referral online, please click here. You can also call 206-598-4288 (outside the Seattle area: 800-440-3280) to make an appointment.

<< Previous Page

Next Page >>

How useful was this page or article?

This article is rated 0.64 out of 5 stars (45 ratings).