Fosamax - Bone Drug's Effect Tracked Over Decade

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The widely used osteoporosis drug Fosamax keeps strengthening bones for at

least a decade, a study found, easing fears that it might eventually

boomerang and start making hips and spines brittle and prone to break.

The study is the longest test yet of Fosamax, which was approved in1995. It

has gained quickly in popularity as an alternative to hormone

supplements, which have been linked in recent years to heart disease and

cancer.

The findings by an international team were published today in the New

England Journal of Medicine. The researchers, led by Dr. Henry Bone of

St. Medical Center in Detroit focused on 247 middle-age and

elderly women with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

The number of fractures in the final five years was too small to be

considered statistical proof, but the raw numbers were encouraging.

Among women who took 10 milligrams of Fosamax daily, 5 percent

suffered back fractures. Among those who stopped taking the drug

during the last five years of testing, 6.6 percent had such breaks.

The blockbuster drug, which had $2.7 billion in world sales last year,

works by readjusting the continuous process of bone renewal. The

research was backed by the maker of Fosamax, Merck & Co.