 |
 |
UK study finds new alternative treatment for bone loss BOSTON (February 18, 1998 5:24 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - An alternative treatment for protecting older women from bone loss is almost as effective as conventional hormone treatment, researchers report. In tests on 1,609 post-menopausal women at risk for osteoporosis, or bone loss, a team of scientists report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine that the drug "alendronate increases bone mineral density at most sites" in the body. Alendronate is sold under the brand name Fosamax by Merck & Co. Inc., which financed the study. Osteoporosis is a natural part of aging, especially in post-menopausal women whose bodies have stopped producing estrogen and progesterone. It is a major health problem for the elderly because the weakened bones may break. Doctors have known for years that giving synthetic forms of estrogen and progesterone can slow bone loss. Unfortunately, the treatment can cause bleeding and breast tenderness and may also heighten the risk of breast cancer. Alendronate, "therefore provides an alternative to estrogen" and progesterone treatment, said the team headed by Dr. David Hosking of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. In the study, treatments with estrogen and progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) were most effective at making bones stronger. But alendronate worked nearly as well without the side effects. The researchers also found that a daily dose of 5 milligrams of alendronate was more effective than a 2.5 milligram dose. "The proportion of women who lost more than 2 percent of total-body mineral density was 42 percent in the placebo group, 19 percent in the group given the 2.5-mg dose of alendronate, and 9 percent in the group given the 5-mg dose," they said. However, the drug did not work for everyone. The researchers cautioned that some women getting the medicine still lost bone mass, while the estrogen- progesterone combination had few failures. Copyright 1998 Nando.net Copyright 1998 Reuters News Service janet paterson 50-9 / sinemet-selegiline-prozac almonte-ontario-canada / [log in to unmask]