Aberdeen scientists head up new research into better hip replacements and osteoporosis drugs
Two Aberdeen scientists are to carry out research aimed at developing better hip replacement techniques, and improved drugs for people with the brittle bone disease, osteoporosis.
Dr Fraser Coxon, a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen's department of medicine and therapeutics, has been awarded funding of more than £100,000 over two years from the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc).
Dr Coxon is looking to develop a drug to treat osteoporosis that does not have the effects of existing drugs called bisphosphonates such as stomach ulcers and acute fever.
"We have discovered a drug related to bisphosphonates that may have fewer side effects than those currently in use," said Dr Coxon. "The drug we have discovered isn't as effective as existing bisphosphonates but we intend to identify the molecular structures within this drug that are important for its activity, in order that other, better drugs could be developed in the future to treat common bone diseases."
Professor Richard Aspden, Professor of Orthopaedic Science at the University of Aberdeen, has been awarded an arc grant of £57,500 over two years to develop improved hip replacement techniques.
About 50,000 total hip replacements are carried out in the UK every year, and finding ways of making these last longer before they fail would bring significant benefits.
"More than 70,000 people in the UK fracture their hip in the UK, and 20 per cent of these people die shortly afterwards," explained Professor Aspden. "We want to understand better the transmission of forces through the hip joint, and the stresses within the femur, which is essential for the better design of orthopaedic implants."
The University of Aberdeen is a major recipient of arc funding, with more than £2m of funding currently being pumped into different research departments.
