Healing bones

an indian plant, Cissus quadrangularis , is used in traditional medicine to treat bone fractures. Recently, a team of researchers at the National Chemical Laboratory (ncl), Pune, tried to explain how the plant, which can be used both internally and externally, works.

Commonly called hadjod , the plant belongs to the grape family. Earlier trials have shown it reduces healing time for fractures by 55-33 per cent. To understand how it works, the ncl team, led by Murali Sastry, boiled the plant stem in water for five minutes to prepare an extract. On studying its composition, the scientists found the extract was rich in two elements -- calcium and phosphorus, which are present in the bones as calcium hydroxyapatite.

When the researchers passed carbon dioxide through the extract, they found calcium carbonate crystals were formed. This demonstrates the availability of the calcium in the plant to make other compounds, maybe even calcium hydroxyapatite. "This research could help explain how the bone grows," says Sastry. The findings appeared in the November 25, 2005, issue of Current Science (Vol 89, No 10). Earlier studies have shown the plant has anti-osteoporotic properties and could be useful for menopausal women, too.