Osteoporosis research boost

COLERAINE:RESEARCH INTO the debilitating bone disease osteoporosis has received a boost with the establishment of an All-Ireland bone health and nutrition centre based in Coleraine.

One of its first tasks will be to participate in an All-Ireland 6,000 person survey of hospital and GP patients, the Irish Universities' Nutrition

Alliance Project, to assess the role of nutritional and genetic factors in age-related diseases.

The survey will measure diet, bone density and other clinical data to help find ways in which to prevent or ease the condition.

It is being jointly run by the University of Ulster, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and University College Cork.

Dr Helene McNulty, professor of nutrition and dietetics at Ulster's Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, is one of the leaders of the project.

She said the size of the survey should provide new insights into the causes of osteoporosis by simultaneously examining genetic factors and nutrition.

"This will be of enormous benefit in developing strategies on an All-Ireland basis to prevent osteoporosis, which not only causes suffering and a loss of independence to its victims but also puts a massive strain on Health spending, North and South," McNulty said.