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New questions have emerged about whether long-term use of bone-building drugs for osteoporosis may actually lead to weaker bones in a small number of people who use them. The concern rises mainly from a series of case reports showing a rare type of leg fracture that shears straight across the upper thighbone after little or no trauma. Fractures in this sturdy part of the bone typically result from car accidents, or in the elderly and frail. But the case reports show the unusual fracture pattern in people who have used bone-building drugs called bisphosphonates for five years or more. Some...

Researchers looking for genes that raise the risk of osteoporosis found seven different sequences associated with the bone-thinning disease, and one team found two that might predict the risk for 20 percent of people. The studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet on Tuesday, may also shed light into how osteoporosis develops. A British team identified two small mutations called SNPs -- single-letter changes in the DNA code -- that predicted thinning bones. They scanned the genes of 2,094 female twins and identified a link between decreased bone mineral density and changes in genes on...

Largest, longest study ever supports screening and prevention of osteoporosis.One bone mineral density test can accurately predict a woman's chance of spinal fractures 15 years down the line, new research shows. And, according to the largest and longest prospective study of osteoporosis ever, women who had a spinal fracture at the beginning of the study had four times the risk of sustaining another fracture later on. The bottom line: "Women need to talk to their doctors about the risk of osteoporosis," according to Jane Cauley, lead author of the study and professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate...

Clinton T. Rubin knows full well that his recent results are surprising — that no one has been more taken aback than he. And he cautions that it is far too soon to leap to conclusions about humans. But still, he says, what if ... ? And no wonder, other scientists say. Dr. Rubin, director of the Center for Biotechnology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is reporting that in mice, a simple treatment that does not involve drugs appears to be directing cells to turn into bone instead of fat. All he does is put...

For the first time, an osteoporosis drug has reduced deaths and prevented new fractures in elderly patients with broken hips, according to new research. Some experts called the drop in deaths "striking" but said other drugs could have a similar effect. In the study, there were 28 percent fewer deaths and 35 percent fewer fractures in the group that got a once-a-year infusion of the bone drug Reclast compared to those who got a dummy treatment. No other osteoporosis drug study published in at least 15 years has shown such a pronounced reduction in deaths, said Dr. Kenneth Lyles of...

Researchers in the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam have created a unique way of identifying patients at risk of osteoporosis by using ordinary dental x-rays. Professor Paul F. van der Stelt and his team developed the largely automated approach to detecting the disease during a three-year, EU-funded collaboration with the Universities of Manchester, Athens, Leuven, and Malmö. They will present their findings today during the 85th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research. Osteoporosis affects almost 15% of Western women in their fifties, 22% in their sixties, and 38.5% in their seventies. As many as 70% of women...

People taking powerful antacid drugs called proton pump inhibitors face an increased risk of hip fracture, University of Pennsylvania researchers report. Common proton pump inhibitors include Aciphex, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix; they are often prescribed for stomach conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The report is published in the Dec. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "If you take acid-suppression medications on a chronic basis and you are 50 or older, your hip fracture risk is even higher than usual," said study author Dr.Yu-Xiao Yang, an assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology. "In addition,...

Cola Raises Women's Osteoporosis Risk 10.06.06, 12:00 AM ET FRIDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cola may not be so sweet for women's bones, according to new research that suggests the beverage boosts osteoporosis risk. "Among women, cola beverages were associated with lower bone mineral density," said lead researcher Katherine Tucker, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. There was a pretty clear dose-response, Tucker added. "Women who drink cola daily had lower bone mineral density than those who drink it only once a week,"...

In the last 10 years, millions of patients have taken a class of drugs that can prevent agonizing broken and deteriorating bones. The drugs once seemed perfectly safe and have transformed life for patients with cancer or osteoporosis. But recently there have been reports of a serious side effect: death of areas of bone in the jaw. Everyone agrees that the condition, osteonecrosis of the jaw, is an uncommon complication, but that its true incidence is not known. It is estimated that among the 500,000 American cancer patients who take the drugs because their disease is affecting their bones, 1...

Canadian Press Toronto — An osteoporosis drug has been found to reduce the incidence of invasive breast cancer in high-risk, post-menopausal women as effectively as tamoxifen, the medication considered the gold standard for warding off the disease over the last two decades. In a head-to-head study, both tamoxifen and raloxifene were found to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer by almost 50 per cent compared with placebo — but raloxifene had far fewer serious side-effects. “This is good news for women,” Dr. Leslie Ford of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, told a teleconference Monday to announce the results of...

An estimated 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, according to the National Institutes of Health. Another 34 million are considered at increased risk for getting the bone disease. A good many of those patients stand to benefit if a new osteoporosis drug from Amgen (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) turns out to be successful. Phase two data on the investigational drug, dubbed Denosumab, was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug was given in twice-yearly injections. A total of 412 postmenopausal women with low bone marrow density were randomly assigned to receive Denosumab, Merck's (NYSE:MRK - News) Fosamax...

Anyone concerned about their bones is likely to make sure they have plenty of vitamin D, either by getting enough sunshine, eating fish, or taking supplements. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about how the compound works. A new study has finally shed some light on this process, showing how the vitamin takes part in a delicate balancing act between cells that tear down our bones and cells that rebuild them. Vitamin D is a familiar player in bone health. Without sufficient amounts of this hormone, our frames become frail with disorders such as osteoporosis or rickets. But vitamin D has...

December 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Women are suing the makers of Depo-Provera birth control, saying it has caused them severe bone loss leading to osteoporosis.A $700-million class-action lawsuit has been filed against the drug company Pfizer, an international pharmaceutical conglomerate that also produces the prescription drugs Viagra, Zoloft and Celebrex. Pfizer has come under fire in the past for alleged lethal side effects stemming from the use of the anti-depressant Zoloft, and the company currently faces a number of lawsuits in the U.S. over Celebrex, which is alleged to cause heart attacks in users.The drug Depo-Provera acts as an abortifacient....

It used to be that a patient with osteoporosis who broke a vertebra was pretty much out of luck. The only recourse was wearing a back brace and waiting to heal. If the searing pain was unbearable, it could be blunted with powerful narcotics. But in the past few years, doctors have been offering and patients demanding what some call a miraculous treatment: vertebroplasty (pronounced vur-TEE-bro-plasty), in which a form of cement is injected into the broken spinal bone. No one is sure why it helps, or even if it does. The hot cement may be shoring up the spine...

Despite what doctors have long recommended, regularly taking calcium and vitamin D does not prevent fractures in older people who have broken a bone or who have osteoporosis, according to two large studies released yesterday. People with osteoporosis are often encouraged to consume as much calcium and vitamin D as possible to strengthen their bones and to lower the likelihood of injuries. But the new studies, involving thousands of elderly people in Britain who had symptoms of the disease, found that those who took calcium and vitamin D tablets were just as likely to break a bone as those who...

WASHINGTON, March 25 (AP) - A once-a-month pill to help women battle the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, Boniva, will be the first monthly osteoporosis medication, said Dr. Ronald Emkey of Radiant Research in Reading, Pa., which conducted trials of the drug. Current medications are taken weekly. Boniva was approved late Thursday, and it is being jointly promoted by the makers, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche. The companies estimate that 44 million Americans older than 50 suffer from osteoporosis. Also known as ibandronate sodium, Boniva, in 150 milligram tablets, is intended for treating...

WASHINGTON - A once-a-month pill to help women battle the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Boniva will be the first monthly osteoporosis medication, said Dr. Ronald Emkey of Radiant Research in Reading, Pa., which conducted trials of the drug. Current medications are taken weekly. Boniva, approved late Thursday, is being jointly promoted by the drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche. The companies estimate that 44 million Americans over age 50 suffer from osteoporosis Known as ibandronate sodium, the 150 milligram tablets are intended for both treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The drug is...

Pain Sufferers Find Yoga and Diet Can Comfort ImmuneSupport.com 02-14-2005 By Carrie White, Tribune Scottsdale, Arizona rheumatologist Paul Howard doesn’t believe pharmaceuticals, by themselves, are the best way for people with arthritis to get better. Rather, Howard sees treatment for the disease — joint inflammation affecting nearly 70 million Americans — as involving a combination of exercise, supplementation, diet and, if needed, weight loss. His patients bear out his approach. Peggy McKee, 76, of Scottsdale first visited Howard’s office three years ago with an arthritis flare-up shortly after the death of her husband and a daughter. McKee, who suffers from...

Bone and gut disorders 'linked'Osteoporosis patients should be screened for a gut disease, US researchers believe.Coeliac disease is an intolerance to gluten - found in wheat A Washington University Bone Clinic study of 840 people found those with the brittle bone disorder were 17 times more likely to have coeliac disease. The disease, an intolerance to gluten which makes digestion difficult, is found in 1% of the general population. The team told the Archives of Internal Medicine the study provided evidence of the benefits of a screening programme. Although coeliac disease patients commonly have a low bone mineral density, the...

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 17, 2004 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that a "black box" warning, highlighting prolonged use may result in the loss of bone density, will be added to the labeling of Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection, an established injectable drug approved for use in women to prevent pregnancy. Although Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection has been used for decades for birth control throughout the world and remains a safe and effective contraceptive, FDA and Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, are taking this action to ensure that physicians and patients have access to this important information. The black box warning...