More osteoporosis drug bad news
January 3, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
A while ago, an alert went out regarding the use of Fosamax (alendronate) and a possible connection with osteonecrosis of the jaw.
Fosamax is one of the several bisphosphonate medications that are taken to prevent or slow down the rate of osteoporosis (bone thinning). Osteonecrosis of the jaw is, literally, death of the jaw bone. Our bones are filled with cells that need blood to nourish them to stay healthy. Any bone in the body can die if the cells don’t get that nourishment. In the case of osteonecrosis of the jaw, for some reason, the jaw bone’s blood supply is being interrupted.
A new study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association has found that this is happening more often than doctors may realize. The author of the study found that he was coming across one to four new cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw, a much higher rate than the usual one per year.
You can read more about this study in this article, Study Links Osteoporosis Drugs to Jaw Trouble.
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Tags: pain blog, osteonecrosis, osteonecrosis of the jaw, osteoporosis medications, osteoporosis, fosamax, aledronate, bisphosphonates
