The drug is teriparatide, also known as Forsteo, and is normally used to treat osteoporosis. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York discovered that it increases the ability of older bones to heal themselves and could even “turn back the clock,” making older bones heal as quickly as those of a younger person.

 

The researchers gave teriparatide to 145 people who had bone fractures that had not healed many for six months or more. After eight to twelve weeks of daily injections, 93 percent of them showed significant healing and pain control. There were even cases when the skeletons of the elderly healed at the same rate as “young children,” halving recuperation.

 

“In many people, as they get older, their skeleton loses the ability to heal fractures and repair itself. With careful application of teriparatide, we believe we’ve found a way to turn back the clock on fracture healing through a simple, in-body stem cell therapy,” Edward Puza, head of the orthopaedic bone research at the university and lead author of the research, said.

 

The researchers now want to start a placebo-controlled trial on people with pelvic fractures. These fractures “are very painful, and people can’t walk for two to three to four months. We want to get them up and moving as quickly as we can,” said Dr. Susan V. Bukata of the University of Rochester Medical Center, a co-author of the study. The trial will be sponsored with funds from the National Institutes of Health.