The early 1900’s can be seen as a great turning point for Orthopedics. The discovery of the X-ray almost marked 1900 and Orthopaedics itself was only now being seen as a true specialty of its own. The British still dominated Orthopaedic developments, but the new world had now reached maturity and there were increasingly more contributions being made by the Americans. The bloom of understanding, with the introduction of the X-ray, was not as dramatic as expected. Instead, the turn of the century was marked by new institutions and associations that sought to mark Orthopaedic Surgery as an individual and growing specialty.
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Injectable birth control is known to lower bone density, but women may be able to limit the loss by not smoking and getting even moderate amounts of calcium, a new study hints.
The findings, say researchers, show that not all women are at equal risk of bone loss from using depot medroxyprogesterone (DMPA) — better known by the brand-name Depo Provera.
DMPA is given by injection about once every three months, and is generally considered an effective, convenient and low-cost form of birth control. The contraceptive can, however, lead to significant bone loss.
While research has shown that this lost bone mass is often regained after women stop using DMPA, there are still concerns about whether substantial bone loss is completely reversible. So limiting the decline in the first place would be ideal.
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Nanotubes inspire new technique for healing broken bones. Scientists have shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes make an ideal scaffold for the growth of bone tissue. The new technique could change the way doctors treat broken bones, allowing them to simply inject a solution of nanotubes into a fracture to promote healing.
The success of a bone graft depends on the ability of the scaffold to assist the natural healing process. Artificial bone scaffolds have been made from a wide variety of materials, such as polymers or peptide fibers, but they have a number of drawbacks, including low strength and the potential for rejection in the body.
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