RESEARCH - Forteo (teriparatide) effective for steroid-induced osteoporosis

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Hormone Effective for Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis

By Emery, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today

Published: October 29, 2009

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of

Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and

Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

The synthetic parathyroid hormone teriparatide (Forteo) is an

effective treatment for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis, a form of

bone loss seen in patients treated with steroids, according to a study

funded by the manufacturer.

Patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis who took

teriparatide for 36 months had greater increases in bone mineral

density and fewer vertebral fractures than those treated with

alendronate, a bisphosphonate osteoporosis drug sold as Fosamax, an

online article in Arthritis & Rheumatism reported.

Patients who took teriparatide saw increases in bone mineral density

of 11% in the lumbar spine, 5.2% in the hip, and 6.3% in the femoral

neck, while those who took alendronate saw increases in BMD of only

5.3%, 2.7%, and 3.4% in the same regions, respectively (P<0.01 for all

sites).

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Read the entire article here:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Osteoporosis/16688

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