Including dried plums in the diet may prevent bone damage due to radiation exposures either in space or on Earth, new research has found.
Including dried plums in the diet may prevent bone damage due to radiation exposures either in space or here on Earth, revealed a new research. "Bone loss caused by ionizing radiation is a potential health concern for those in occupations or in situations that expose them to radiation," said one of the researchers Nancy Turner from Texas A&M University in the US.
‘Including dried plums in the diet may prevent bone damage due to radiation exposures either in space or here on Earth.’
"This is relevant to not only astronauts in space, but also cancer patients, those undergoing radiotherapy, radiation workers and victims of nuclear accidents," Turner noted. The study, published in the Scientific Reports, showed that consuming dried plums can protect from ionizing radiation that increases oxidative damage in skeletal tissues and results in an imbalance in bone remodeling.
"The changes in remodeling activity caused by exposure to radiation can lead to impaired skeletal integrity and fragility both in animals and human radiotherapy patients," Turner said.
The team investigated interventions they hypothesized might prevent bone damage and oxidative stress-related factors leading to cancellous bone loss, also known as ’spongy bone’, from exposure to radiation.
The researchers tested mice using the different interventions and exposing them to radiation.
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"Dried plums contain biologically active components that may provide effective interventions for loss of structural integrity caused by radiotherapy or unavoidable exposure to space radiation incurred over long-duration spaceflight," Turner explained.
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