A CHEAP drug that’s been on the market for almost 40 years could build bone mass in post-menopausal women, providing an alternative to hormone replacement therapy for preventing osteoporosis.
Two years ago Gerard Karsenty’s team at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston showed that a hormone called leptin stops new bone forming in mice. But leptin is best known for its role in appetite and fat metabolism. If you tried to boost bone growth by blocking leptin the body would react as if it was starving, demanding more food and shutting down the immune system and reproduction. “No one wants to become obese to prevent…
