Consuming less protein while pregnant can protect your child from brittle bones, says study
Posted on: 03/Feb/2017 9:59:37 AM
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine has said that kids may inherit the brittle bone disease from you, but thanks to science, you can protect your child by consuming less protein while you are pregnant.
Speaking about the study, the researchers said, Limiting a specific maternal protein in pregnant mice with osteogenesis imperfecta resulted in offspring with stronger, denser bones. Osteogenesis imperfecta is caused by the body`s inability to make strong bones because of mutations affecting the production of the protein known as collagen. No cure exists; however, we know from previous research that the prenatal environment can have a lasting effect on cardiovascular and metabolic health into adulthood. We studied whether bone health of mice could be improved by optimizing the environment within the womb. Myostatin is a protein that limits muscle growth.
However, exercise causes myostatin levels to decrease - which is good because it allows muscle tissue to develop. Increased muscle tissue results in stronger bones. Humans achieve 90 percent of their peak bone mass by age 19. To approximate this timeframe with mice, we re-evaluated their bone strength and density four months after birth. In each case, the mice with stronger, denser adult bones were those whose fetal development involved females deficient in the protein myostatin.
This finding shows that the environment within the womb affects bone development not only at birth, but into adulthood. We believe that the work represents a paradigm shift in understanding and possibly treating osteogenesis imperfecta. Our findings may prove beneficial to reducing the risk of other bone diseases such as osteoporosis later in life for many others. However, more research is needed.
