GotoMyDoc - Education - Bone Health - Learn

What It's About | Did You Know? | Learn More About | For More Info

Bone Health

Treatments available for osteoporosis

It used to be that the only choices for osteoporosis treatment were the hormones, estrogen and injectable calcitonin, as well as the use of calcium supplements. Recent advances in treatment though, have emerged and there are three new drug treatments now available. They are called:

bisphosphonates that slow the rate of bone loss.
an inhaled form of calcitonin.
selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), which has many estrogen-like effects on bones. Studies have shown that these medications can decrease bone loss but not quite as much as estrogen.

Any medication used to treat osteoporosis must be shown to preserve or increase bone mass and maintain bone quality in order to reduce the risk of fractures. For any of these treatment options, it is important that you and your clinician carefully weigh the risks and benefits. Your health care provider can help you design a treatment plan that is best for you and provides you with the best possible quality of life.