this morning's NYTimes

[www.nytimes.com]

"Researchers Puzzled by Role of Osteoporosis Drug in Rare Thighbone Fractures"

Another article on osteoporosis drugs. Notable quote from the end of this article:"“There are risks we know about and risks we don’t know about with all drugs,” Dr. Black said. “I think people would be naïve to assume there is no risk.”

PeggyM

PeggyM:

Thank you for this URL.

[www.nytimes.com]

Isabelle

Hi Peggy,

Needless to say this subject which is now getting a lot of coverage in main stream media is causing a lot of soul searching on the National Osteoporosis Foundation forum which my wife follows. Here's a link to a current thread
[www.inspire.com]

Josiah

This should not be a puzzle to researchers or doctors. These bisphosphonates drugs have long been known to cause what is referenced as “false bone”… it’s hard on the outside surface (cortical bone) and looks dense on Xray but inside (the cancelleous bone) is not enhanced at all and still has the lacy, Swiss cheese look. These bones have virtually no internal support and when torqued or twisted or otherwise stressed, they crack.

There are many reports of people falling with a hip fracture… they report they heard the ‘snap’ and that caused the fall. The head of the femur just snapped at the neck area.

I have two friends in their mid-fifties who have been on bisphosphonates for over 5 years and both have had stress fractures in foot bones. Another example of why these drugs only make bones look good on diagnostics but do not add bone strength from the inside out. Another acquaintance had a dreadful time with osteonecrosis of the jaw. She was on an IV drip (antibiotics) at home for six months to clear up the infection that developed as a result of an abscessed tooth in the area of the necrosis. They were fearful she might lose her jawbone.

The nutritional aspects of bone building should not be overlooked. Vitamin D3, vitamin K2, magnesium and sometimes equal portions of calcium as well. Oral administration of magnesium as the sole treatment in postmenopausal osteoporosis has been shown to increase bone density. (Sojka, J.E. and Weaver, C.M., Magnesium supplementation and osteoporosis, Nutr. Rev., 53, 71–74, 1995).

There is a great expository article by Byron Richards, CCN, at his website:
Pay particular attention to the comment about "A recent flood of negative information about these drugs is finally coming to light, including an alarming FDA pain warning, the risk for atrial fibrillation, the numerous cases of rotting jaw bones, and a new major study that concludes after 15 years of widespread use there is not enough science to show if the medications are safe or effective."
He says:

How Bisphosphonate Bone Drugs Work

The bisphosphonate bone drugs work in two main ways:

A) By killing osteoclasts – the carpenter cells in charge of the demolition part of the remodeling process. New healthy bone cannot be built by osteoblasts until old worn bone has been removed by osteoclasts.

By gluing calcium onto bone in abnormal ways, providing the appearance of greater bone density. However, this is like nailing a piece of plywood over a hole in the wall. Yes, there is something there, but it is not a normal wall and it does not have the proper strength of a normal wall.

Once bisphosphonates arrive at bone they are stuck there forever, as a completely abnormal substance residing within and on the bone. The human body has no enzyme system that can break them down. Thankfully, after one year the biological activity of the poison is reduced; however, it is still stuck in the bone indefinitely. It is not a trivial issue to give a patient a toxic drug that accumulates in bones and is highly active even after it is stopped, which explains why some of the patients did not get rid of their pain even after discontinuing the drug.
[www.newswithviews.com]

Jackie

On March 10th of this year, ABC nightly news ran a story about the danger of fractures linked to fosamax. I was amazed, but appreciate, that finally the news media was relating something that many of us have known for years.

[abcnews.go.com]

Of course, big pharma is responding in kind. This past week, The Miami Herald ran a short blurb about the FDA assuring people that fosamax and similar drugs are safe.

Marian

A great read on this and related topics is "Overdosed America" by Dr. John Abramson. Very enlightening.

Barb

The doctors were going to put me on these medications when i was diagnosed with Osteopenia, but I told them absolutely not. I told them I was getting old so I was going to have some bone loss, so we would wait until the next two years for my next bone scan. In the meantime I ate lots of good veggies and increased my vitamin D. My test for two times now have been the same as the first test. So, people should consider there is natural loss and thinning of bones with age. I am anxious to see my next test next year as I have increased my vitamin D even more. The only worry i have is the large amount of weight I lost due to the H.Pylori, loss of weight can also cause bone loss. I weighed today and I am up to 116! Yes!...aiming for my weight before getting sick of 120.

Hi Sharon, Unfortuantely for me I did not have your good sense of refusing to take Fosamax when diagnosed with osteopenia. I thought I was lucky to be living at such a marvelous time to have these drugs available. I started back when they were a pill a day. Stopped when it first came out about the jaw problem. Fortunately, I have only had problems with stress fractures of my foot. Even had one when recovering from hammertoe surgery and mostly off my feet. Podiatrist never could figure that one out. Another good point was made to me by my Endocrinologist. I was so proud to have dieted and reached the weight of 129. I am 5'4". She told me in no uncertain terms that was not good for my bones, and she didn't want me weighing any less than 140 lb. My Dexascan has since improved, and recent x-rays of knees and hips showed everything was great.
Cynthia

I know that being underweight is not a great thing for bones, especially when you are elderly. I am 5' 7" tall so I am considered underweight at 116 lbs. However, because of the way I have to eat for afib, I can't gain weight, I don't eat anything that causes weight gain although I did add some glycemic "no, no's" in some gluten free bread and waffles and that helped me go from 105lbs to my current weight. I lost a lot of the weight when I had the battle with H.pylori, I could hardly eat anything without pain.

I think I am eligible for a bone scan next year, however with all of the medicare cutbacks I may not get that. Of course, I think my doctor would be able to override it as I was diagnosed with Osteopenia and am also underweight and can't take calcium and won't take medication. Sharon