SSRL: Biomedicine - Osteoporosis

Studies of estrogen depletion in laboratory rats is directly applicable to understanding a bone-thinning disease called osteoporosis, which is a major problem for many post-menopausal women.

	This picture shows a slice of a normal tibia in a living rat taken with a synchrotron radiation bone scan.
	This picture, taken five weeks after induced estrogen loss, shows a 60% loss in bone volume.

The results of this research are valuable in finding new treatments for this debilitating disease.