Osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease is common in India, particularly in elderly people and menopausal women. And for women it is worse because it is accompanied with disfigurement and depression.

But a urine test can now help find the level of bone damage and how it can be prevented. The test, Osteomark, detects the level of a molecule NTx in the urine. The test levels indicate the level of bone resorption.

The laboratory test done at city-based St John's Hospital is the first and the only one of its kind in the country. The test was first done in 1995 in the US.

Head of the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Dr T Venkatesh explained that the bones are made of living tissue, mainly collagen, that constantly renews itself. This condition is called tissue turnover, andconsists of bone resorption, where the bone is broken down and removed; and bone formation.

In adults, it is balanced. `During and after menopause, the estrogen levels go down, while the bone resorption levels go up.'

When estrogen level decreases, NTx is released in the urine.

The Osteomark test helps determine these levels, and depending on the results, a woman can go in for either Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), calcium and Vitamin D diet, or exercise.

If a woman is on HRT, the NTx test can help find out if the treatment is helping her at all. `If it is helping her, the NTx level will come down,' Venkatesh said. If not, the treatment can be changed. `The test can relieve a woman of the excess pain, and related problems like depression,' he said.

Women can get the test done before the onset of menopause, and can avoid joint pain altogether. And not just women. `Though osteoporosis is more pronounced in menopausal women, but over ten years it balances out both in men and women,' Venkatesh said.With the geriatric population also on the increase, the cases of osteoporosis are going up as well.

Increased NTx levels do not mean the bones are brittle, but that they are prone to become brittle, and will if things are not taken care of.

The test is simple. You only have to give a urine sample, and can know the result in just about two hours time. The cost? It costs Rs 450 each time you want to go in for it.