Scientists now claim that a new nasal spray can significantly reduce the risk of spinal fractures for people with the brittle bone disease osteoporosis.

Tests showed that the Nasal Spray Miacalcic cut the chances of a fracture in post-menopausal women with the disease by 36 per cent and reduced the risk of multiple fractures by 45 per cent. The most common complication of osteoporosis is spine damage and this causes 24 million fractures in men and women each year in Europe alone.

More than 1,200 women took part in trials of Miacalcic Nasal Spray in 42 hospitals in America and five in Britain.

The findings were published in the US Journal of Medicine.