1. Bone Density Treatment
Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease that strikes menopausal women with alarming statistics. Women with weakened bones suffer more hip fractures that lead to hospitalizations and further complications. While diet and exercise and help to ease the weakened skeletal system, drugs are often prescribed to aid in the strengthening process. One drug used regularly for osteoporosis is biphosphonate. In much heavier doses, it is also used to treat bone cancer. Sometimes patients inject these drugs to increase their performance during chemotherapy.
2. Drugs in Action
Biphosphonates work inside the bones, restricting the flow of the very cells that build bone and remove harmful calcium deposits. The bone cells, called osteoclasts, are in constant motion in the bones throughout a person's lifetime. They monitor the bone marrow and strive to achieve a balance of good and bad calcium to keep us healthy. Two of the biphosphonates on the market are called Aredia and Zometa.
3. When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease
Studies are showing that the side effect of long-term biphosphonate use can create problems that are equally devastating as the diseases for which they were meant to cure. Osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ, has been discovered in both osteoporosis and cancer patients. ONJ develops after a patient has dental surgery or undergone any trauma to the teeth. The bone that has been distressed under the tooth tends not to heal and requires heavy doses of antibiotics when infections develop. Sometimes surgery is required to remove the damaged bone.
4. Watch Your Mouth
When ONJ was turning up in clusters of patients who were taking biphosphonate, researchers began to worry. To prevent the jawbone deterioration, dentists should be made aware when a patient is on biphosphonate drugs so that he can be extra careful about suturing any cuts and administering antibiotics right away to avoid infection.
5. Other Bones at Risk
If you are diagnosed with osteoporosis, then you may want to consider jumping jacks and calcium supplements as the research continues on biphosphonates. Some doctors and researchers in the medical community believe that biphosphonates not only cause jawbone deterioration, but also affect all the bones in the body. The bones may look thicker under x-ray bone scans, but many doctors believe that these scans are misleading. Some doctors even predict that these bones will breaking within three to five years after taking these biphosphonates drugs.
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