What You Can Do for Yourself
This article focuses mostly on medical and dietary supplement options. But don’t forget about what you can do to help yourself. The drug treatments discussed below work better if you modify your lifestyle as well:- Participate in appropriate physical activity daily
Best Exercises for Bones
Exercise Prevents Osteoporosis
- Maintain good bone nutrition
Food Sources of Calcium
Questionable Food Sources of Calcium
Vitamin D and Bone Health
Vitamin K Benefits Bones
Weight Loss Can Cause Bone Loss
Avoid Excess Vitamin A
Are Sodas Bad for Bone Health?
- Find ways to prevent falls that could break bones
Practical Tips for Preventing Falls
What Medical Care Can Do for You
If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis and never had a bone fracture, consider yourself lucky. Many people have osteoporosis and don’t know it. Their first symptom is likely to be a medical emergency. With knowledge about your bone density, you have the power to take steps to avoid that fate.
Determine Potential Medical Causes
Osteoporosis is most commonly caused by a gradual, steady decline in bone mass after the age of about 25 years. However, there are many possible reasons for this and your doctor will want to identify and eliminate various possibilities.Certain diseases can lead to osteoporosis. Examples include a wide variety of genetic conditions, various hormonal problems, gastrointestinal diseases, blood diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, eating disorders, and a host of other conditions. These possibilities must be eliminated to assure proper treatment.
Several types of medications taken over time for chronic conditions can adversely affect bone density. Drugs prescribed for inflammatory conditions like arthritis are a common contributor to lowered bone density. Prednisone and similar drugs are well known to cause bone loss. This is a major reason why your doctor usually will try to avoid keeping you on these drugs for long periods of time. It’s a good idea to ask your doctor or pharmacist about possible long-term side effects of any medications you take.
Drugs Used for Prevention and Treatment
Drugs used for osteoporosis target the dynamic nature of bones. The most commonly used drug therapies work by reducing the rate of bone breakdown or loss (antiresorptive drugs) which allows bone building to predominate and increase bone density.The antiresorptive drugs are well studied and widely used in both prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. By reducing bone loss, bones can accumulate bone minerals and increase bone density significantly even within a year.
The most commonly used bone loss inhibitors fall under the general category called bisphosphonates. Commonly used bisphosphonates include: Alendronate (Fosamax® and Fosamax Plus D®), Risedronate (Actonel®), and Ibandronate (Boniva®).
Recommended dosage can vary according to the product and guidance of the prescribing physician. These drugs may be prescribed to be taken daily, weekly, or even monthly. Usually, they must be taken with water (usually 8 ounces or 250 ml) on an empty stomach, in the morning 30 to 60 minutes before eating.
Other similar bisphosphonate drugs include:
- Aredia® (pamidronate disodium
- Bonefos® (clodronate disodium)
- Didronel® (etidronate disodium)
- Skelid® (tiludronate disodium)
- Zometa® (zoledronic acid)
Side-effects of Bisphosphonates
Irritation of the esophagus or the stomach can occur. To prevent irritation, it is important to stay upright for an hour after taking these medications to prevent the drug from flowing to the upper part of the stomach and back into the esophagus.Osteonecrosis of the jaw bone is a rare, but very serious side-effect. Osteonecrosis literally means dying bone. In this case, the jaw bone or part of it dies and requires surgical treatment. A common term sometimes used for this is bis-phossy jaw or just phossy jaw.
Phossy Jaw
According to a review of phossy jaw in the May 2006 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, most cases of phossy jaw involved the use of bisphosphonate drugs in very high doses to treat a variety of cancers. Out of about 360 cases that were reported, only 15 cases occurred in people being treated for osteoporosis. Most medical experts currently consider the benefits of bisphosphonate treatment to significantly outweigh the risks.The most important thing to know about phossy jaw is that more than half of the cases had recent dental surgery such as tooth extractions and the rest of the cases were thought to be related to oral infections, denture irritation, or other oral injury. If you need heavy dental work, have denture problems, or experience any pain in your jaw and around your teeth, be sure to tell your physician about this before you begin drug therapy. If you are already taking a bisphonphonate drug and experience any of these oral problems, immediately consult with the physician who prescribed your drug treatment to get professional advice.