Sheffield doctor to investigate effect of contraceptives on bones
A Sheffield doctor is to investigate how influences in teenage years, such as hormonal contraception, could lead women to develop thin bones and even osteoporosis in later life.
More than 400 Sheffield teenagers and young adults will take part in studies run by Dr Jennifer Walsh of the Bone Metabolism Group at the University of Sheffield. A number of them will be using hormonal contraception, including the combined pill and Depo-Provera, which is given by injection.
Dr Walsh, who has been awarded a two-year clinical research fellowship of almost £120,000 by the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) to carry out a series of three studies, is currently recruiting teenagers and young women who are using Depo-Provera. She is already studying an existing group of 250 healthy young men and women to examine normal bone development, and will also recruit a group of postmenopausal women.
She will be examining an under-researched area by looking at how the bones in older teenagers and young women develop, and what the effect will be in later life if they don't reach their full potential. She will also be testing the theory that women with smaller bones are more likely to develop fractures if they have osteoporosis.
"It's become more and more recognised that osteoporosis is not just to do with bone loss as you get older, but how much bone you gain during growth and development", explained Dr Walsh, who is based with Dr Nicola Peel in Professor Richard Eastell's department at the Northern General Hospital.
"Bones grow until you are about 30, but if this process is interrupted in some way, an individual may fail to reach their potential peak of bone strength. We know quite a lot about childhood bone growth and the need for good nutrition and exercise, but not so much about the factors that control later bone development - such as hormones. Contraceptives which alter hormonal activity could have some effect.
"If we find out more about this process and can maximise a woman's bone mass early in life they will be in a better position when they get older and reach the menopause, and less at risk of developing osteoporosis."
Dr Walsh has already recruited more than 100 young women, with initial funding from the National Osteoporosis Society, and is continuing to recruit for the study with help from GPs and family planning clinic who are sending letters to women in their areas.
The Arthritis Research Campaign, whose headquarters is based in Chesterfield, is the fourth largest medical research charity in the UK and in the past year raised more than £26m from public donations to fund its extensive research programme.
