Only Rare Fractures Linked to Osteoporosis Drugs

March 24, 2010 -- Weird below-the-hip thigh fractures linked to Fosamax and
other osteoporosis drugs are rare -- but even if they tripled these injuries,
they'd still prevent more fractures than they caused.
These unusual bone fractures are nearly straight breaks across the thigh
bone well below the hip, caused by very slight falls. The odd fractures appear
to be more common in patients taking the osteoporosis drugs known as
bisphosphonates: Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, and Reclast.
It's frightening to think that
drugs taken to prevent fracture might actually increase fracture risk. But
now a reassuring new study shows that this risk is quite low -- and the benefit
is quite large.
"We concluded that if you treat 1,000 women with osteoporosis for three
years, these drugs would prevent 100 fractures, including 11 hip fractures,"
Dennis M. Black, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, tells
WebMD. "And even if you posit a threefold increase in fracture risk from these
drugs, only one of those 1,000 women would have an upper thigh fracture."
 
 




Slideshow:
Super Foods for Your Bones

http://www .webmd.com/osteoporosis/news/20100324/only-rare-fractures-linked-to-osteoporosis-drugs?src=RSS_PUBLIC