New treatment for osteoporosis provides better protection against fractures
"With the new treatment, we could offer significantly better protection against fractures and could thereby help many patients with severe osteoporosis," says co-author of the study Mattias Lorentzon, Professor of Geriatrics at the Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, and Senior Physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Many patients with severe osteoporosis and a high risk of fractures often cannot regain their original bone strength. They continue to have fractures even with treatment according to current standards with alendronate in tablet form every week. Alendronate increases bone density by slowing the breakdown of bone and thereby decreasing the risk of fractures by 20-50 per cent. Many people with osteoporosis, especially elderly women, nonetheless continue to suffer broken bones, sometimes just by falling from a standing position. The fractures lead to disability and suffering, and with hip and vertebral fractures, often premature death. The curr...