Fosomax Helps Bones for Years

Posted: April 1, 2004

A recent study reports that effects of alendronate (brand name of Fosomax), a drug often prescribed to strengthen bones in patients with osteoporosis, are sustained for at least a decade. However, the beneficial effects gradually disappear when the drug is discontinued.

The results were published in the March 18, 2004 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. This is the longest study of Fosomax to date. The drug was approved in 1995 and quickly gained popularity in treating osteoporosis.

The research helps relieve fears that the medicine could eventually make hips and spines more brittle. In this study, 994 postmenopausal women were given the drug at various doses for up to 10 years.

Treatment with alendronate 10-mg for 10 years was associated with significant improvements in bone mineral density in the lower spine and in the hip.

The risk of adverse effects did not increase significantly when the drug was given for 10 years rather than five.

Fosamax slows bone-destroying cells to give the bone-building cells more time to catch up in renewing the bone. Doctors had wondered if this slower turnover might eventually have harmful effects.

About 8 million American women and 2 million men have osteoporosis. The disease accounts for 1.5 million broken bones a year.

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