Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Home Remedies and Lifestyle
Osteoporosisis a chronic disease.
Managing it appropriately involves lifestyle changes to build and maintain bone density.
Get our printable guide for your next doctor’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Proper Nutrition
You must give your body what it needs to build healthy bones.
Weight-bearing or high-impact exercise is what stimulates bone regeneration.
Lifting weights, aerobics, and jogging are good “bone builders.”
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Prescriptions
Osteoclastsare cells that break down and remove bone, whileosteoblastsare cells that build bone.
These drugs work in different ways to affect these factors to build bone and/or prevent loss.
Osteopeniais not as severe as osteoporosis, but is on the spectrum of bone loss.
Bisphosphonates
Bisphosphonates are a category of osteoporosis medications that first became available in the 1990s.
These drugs reduce the activity of osteoclasts (stop the destruction of bone) to reduce bone loss.
This results in a net increase in bone density.
Once they’re prescribed, you may not need to take bisphosphonates for the rest of your life.
Oral medications in the bisphosphonate class include the following.
Biophosphonate infusions include:
These are given only one time per year (for osteoporosis) as an infusion.
The medication is administered through a needle inserted into a vein in your arm.
The process lasts about 15 minutes.
Side effects of bisphosphonatesdepend on the particular drug, as well as how it is given.
With oral medications, indigestion, heartburn, headaches, muscle pain, and esophageal inflammation may occur.
An uncommon side effect, especially with Reclast or Zometa, isosteonecrosisof the jaw.
Other uncommon but serious side effects may include femur fractures and atrial fibrillation.
Because of this, they may strengthen bones, similar tohormone replacement therapy.
Evista (raloxifene)is a SERM approved by the FDA to treat osteoporosis in women.
It’s taken once a day in pill form.
Evista slows bone loss and reduces the risk of spine (but not hip) fractures.
In addition to building bone, Evista may reduce the risk of developing hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
The drug can perform double-duty for women who have both osteoporosis or osteopeniaandan increased chance of developing breast cancer.
For those who use HRT for this reason, an added benefit is a reduction in bone loss.
Calcitonin is approved for the treatment of osteoporosis in women who are at least five years beyond menopause.
It increases bone density, particularly in the spine, and appears to reduce the risk of spine fractures.
It may also reduce pain for people who have fractures.
The effect is greatest in the first year of treatment and falls off rapidly after that time.
Calcitonin medications are available as a nasal spray or an injection, including the brand name Miacalcin.
Miacalcin is available only as an injection.
Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) Therapies
Parathyroid hormone is also naturally produced in the body.
Unlike bisphosphonates, which reduce bone destruction, parathyroid hormone may actually work tobuildbetter and stronger bones.
Parathyroid hormone medications include the following.
The most common side effects of Forteo are dizziness and leg cramps.
Tymlos has been associated with kidney stones due to increased calcium in the urine.
It’s recommended that use of parathyroid hormone be limited to two years.
Denosumab is a synthetic antibody that prevents osteoclasts from forming.
These drugs work by slowing the breakdown of bone and bone remodeling.
Monoclonal antibody therapies include the following.
These drugs are often referred to as bone-modifying medications.
Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty
Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that is used to treatcompression fracturesof the spine.
During this procedure, bone cement is injected into the fractured vertebrae to stabilize the bone.
Kyphoplastyis a similar procedure, except that a small balloon is first inserted into the compressed vertebrae and inflated.
This space is then filled with bone cement, bringing back height and stability to the vertebrae.
Both procedures can help reduce pain and restore mobility and stability.
Like all medical procedures, there arerisks involved with kyphoplasty and vertebroplastyYour physician will go over these with you.
A bone graft is used to fuse the vertebrae.
These help you to build bone mineral density, which improves the overall health of your bones.
Studies have concluded that drinking even just one or two drinks per day can increase your osteoporosis risk.
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