depressed bone researchers from the hebrew university discovered that depression plays a key role in decline
ofbone density which causes osteoperosys and fractures.those findings are important in understanding the mechanisems which connect the brain and the skeleton.on the basis of these findings the efficiency of the useof anti-depressant medicationsin preventing bone defficiency hasalreadybeen shown. the articles on these findings has been published on october 30th, in the prestigious american journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'.osteoperosys is the most common degenerativedisease in western society. Decline in bone density is the primary cause for bone fractures and osteoperosys. of which mostly womensuffer, after the monthky period stops. The disease occurs in 1 every 4 women over the afe of 55, and the estmmates are that more thenone third of women and one sixth of men will suffer at least one osteo- fracture during their life time.Such fractures can lead to death in more then 10 percent of cases and lower the quality of life for half the survivors in the long run.The study is part of a project, designed to find the connection between the brain, mental states and changes in the skeleton's structure. This
research serves as a basis for the development of new and improved mediacations in order to treat osteo-perosys. On the basis of these findings 'Yisum'- the company for the development of research in the hebrew universuty- has applied for a request for patent status in treating osteo-perosys with anti-depressant drugs. The study group comprised of research from the brain and behaviour lab headed by prof. Raz Jeremiah,from the department of psychology iat the hebrew university,
researchers from the bone lab headed by prof. Itai Bab, from the universitydental lab and researchers from the lab for brain trauma headed by prof. Esther Shami, from the university pharmaceutical lab. Also participated in the study were researchers Inbal Goshen, Alon Bagio, Tirza Kreisel, Sharon Feldman and Joseph Tam.