Consumer Reports Health Blog: Should you still take Fosamax or ...
But when you consider that many doctors prescribe bisphosphonates not just for people with outright osteoporosis but also for those with osteopenia, or "pre-osteoporosis," those concerns take on an added urgency. The problem is that it's not as clear that the drugs are effective for this less serious, but much more common condition , which affects more than half of all white, premenopausal women in the U.S.
At the end of the day, should you have to make a trade-off between the reduction in certain kinds of bone fractures, like hip or spine fractures, for increased risk in another, like thigh bones, or bone loss in the jaw?
Bottom line: If you are diagnosed with osteopenia, CU’s medical consultants strongly advise that non-drug measures be used to reduce bone loss instead of taking a bisphosphonate drug. Taking supplemental calcium and vitamin D can strengthen bones, as can walking, dancing, and other weight-bearing aerobic activities. Those exercises also build muscle and improve balance, both of which can help prevent falls that cause fractures. You can further reduce the risk of falls by limiting how much alcohol you drink, avoiding sleeping pills and by fall-proofing your home by keeping extension cords out of the way, installing grab bars in the bathroom and rubber mats in the bathtub or shower, and getting rid of loose rugs.For those with osteoporosis who already take Fosamax, Boniva, or other bisphosphonates drugs, consider taking a “drug holiday” after five year’s use. The rational: Since the drugs remain active in your system for such a long time once you stop using it, taking any more of it may be unnecessary, unless your doctor determines that your bone loss has become rampant.
— Alan Cassels, guest bloggerBisphosphonate drugs like Fosamax have severe adverse side effects of jaw necrosis (OJN), spontaneous mid-femur fracture, heart rhythm disturbances, and severe bone and joint pain. The spontaneous mid femur fractures are especially troubling, since these are spontaneous fractures without any trauma. Subtrochanteric fractures are pathological fractures, indicating the underlying bone matrix is abnormal. This abnormal weakening and brittleness is directly caused by the bisphosphonate drug. Bottom Line: These are BAD drugs that actually make the bones weaker not stronger, and they should be banned by the FDA . However, knowing the FDA which is in the pocket of the drug companies, no action will be taken until thousands of women with fractured mid-femurs in wheel chairs descend on Washington protesting a BAD DRUG. Perhaps final action will be taken after thousands of cases of mid femur fractures work their way through drug litigation court, our last defense against a BAD DRUG.
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Following Tuesday ABC News story reporting a possible link between long-term use of osteoporosis drugs such as Fosamax and spontaneous, atypical thigh bone
You may know that we're talking about Corey Haim and Doris Haddock, the latter better known to us as “Granny D.” All this, plus the latest on our Fosamax