Donegal skeletons could lead to changes in how osteoperosis is treated

It’s emerged that thousand year old skeletons unearthed from a ‘lost’ medieval graveyard in Co Donegal are providing vital new clues which could change the way doctors treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases in Ireland.
The skeletons, dating from between the 8th to the 17th Century, were found siome years ago at Ballyhanna near Ballyshannon. They show that medieval Irish women of advanced years suffered arthritis as people do today.
However, those who suffered from osteoporosis tended to be fitter than modern day sufferers of equivalent age.
Experts believe that a possible reason for this difference is the fact that those older people who suffered from softening and thinning of the bones in medieval times tended to be far more physically active than their modern counterparts.
Details are to be presented to a conference in Sligo next weekend.