OSTEOPOROSIS

Here is an article from the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina that I came across, as it happens many times in my personal quest for better health.  This one has to do with osteoporosis and what Doctors are finding out about the long term use of medications and how it can do more harm than good.

Osteoporosis Patients Take a ‘Drug Holiday”

By: Shari Roan

Many patients have taken medications that include bisphosphonates for years. Doctors are debating how long people should take them. Recent studies point to health risks and problems linked to long-term use.

With the launch of the first prescription osteoporosis medication 15 years ago, millions of Americans with the bone-thinning disease began taking the drugs and never looked back.  But now many bone-health doctors are looking back and becoming increasingly uneasy.

In the last few years, evidence has emerged that long-term use of osteoporosis drugs — particularly the oldest class of drugs, the bisphosphonates — may do more harm than good. Some doctors are starting to tell at least some of their patients to stop taking the drugs for a time — in other words, to take a “drug holiday.”

When osteoporosis drugs first came out, “people thought, this is a recurring disease, like high blood pressure. So why wouldn’t you treat it for the rest of their lives?” said Dr. Richard Eastell, an expert in bone metabolism at the University of Sheffield in Britain who spoke about the issue last month at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. “But there are now some anxieties with long-term use.”

Several factors are merging to usher in a new era of caution surrounding the medications. One is the simple acknowledgment that some people are approaching 10 to 15 years of continuous use.

“Worldwide, it’s a commonly discussed question as to how long you should go on with these treatments,” Eastell said. “Beyond 10 years, we have no knowledge of how these treatments work.”

Added to that, several potential risks from long-term use have recently arisen.  In rare cases, people taking bisphosphonates — which include Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel and Reclast — can develop jaw necrosis, a condition in which the jawbone begins to deteriorate. And a study published in September in the British Medical Journal found that people who take bisphosphonate drugs for several years have a slightly higher risk of developing esophageal cancer.  Experts don’t know why the drugs would increase the cancer risk, although they are known to irritate the esophagus in some people.

Please visit www.charlotteobserver.com for the rest of the story and don’t forget – If YOU Want to be Inspired to Better Health, and How YOU Can Do It Too, let me Share my Personal Story of Health through Nutrition With YOU.

Please visit us again next week for Osteoporosis Part 2.  It’s going to be SENSATIONAL!!