Grant: Summer Program in Aging

Most older adults have experienced some injury during one's life in which they fell and hurt their back or hip. Generally, when an older adult experience's an impact, their bones break depending on how they fall. This is due to how weakening bones get as we get older; this is called osteoporosis. In older adults, the bone tends to be hollower than a younger adult's bone. This is due to many different reasons, such as eating, exercising, taking in calcium or vitamins and other medications. Currently, detecting osteoporosis is through a machine that operates very similar to an X-ray but is a lot safer as the radiation is a lot less; this machine is called dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. From this machine, we can find whether or not the patients are experiencing low bone count. One of the main issues is that injuries occur instantly, and low-bone count is asymptomatic, meaning that bone can break without knowing that one has lower bone mass. Our goal is to create a tool to predict when the hip or spine bone will break before it actually happens. We also want to know what external factor (like eating, exercise, smoking, medication) plays a main role in osteoporosis, such that doctors can help patients get better and prevent their bone from breaking.