Density Loss Not Always 'Brittle Bones' Predictor

[Guest guest]

This might be good news for those with osteo-whatever.

From:

http://www.iwon.com/home/health/health_article/0,11720,507763|06-22-2002::06

:00,00.html

Density Loss Not Always 'Brittle Bones' Predictor

Study says some women prone to osteoporosis even if bone-density loss is

minimal

FRIDAY, June 21 (HealthScoutNews) -- Here's more disturbing news for

post-menopausal women: The amount of mineral density in your bones may not

be a good predictor of just how brittle your bones may be.

The structural integrity inside the bone can deteriorate within just one

year in early postmenopausal women, even though there may only be modest

loss of bone mineral density (BMD), according to a study presented today at

the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Francisco.

The same study found that risedronate sodium tablets (Actonel) can protect

the bone's structural integrity and increase BMD. Actonel is made and

marketed by Procter & Gamble and Aventis Pharmaceuticals. The two companies

paid for the study.

The study included 26 women within six months to five years after menopause.

They received 5 milligrams of Actonel or a placebo daily for a year. None of

them was given calcium supplements.

After a year, the 12 women in the placebo group had significant

deterioration of the microarchitecture of trabecular bone -- the structural

network inside the bone -- despite having only a 3.3 percent decrease in

lumbar spine BMD.

Over the same period, the 14 women who took Actonel maintained their

trabecular bone architecture and had a 2.1 percent gain in lumbar spine BMD.

More information

Osteoporosis (bone density loss) affects about 200 million women worldwide,

says the International Osteoporosis Foundation. This article from the U.S.

National Osteoporosis Foundation updates the number of people now affected

by the disease and estimates that more than 60 million Americans will suffer

some sort of bone-density loss before 2020.

[Guest guest]

on 6/22/2002 10:04 AM, Hipp at @... wrote:

> Actonel is made and

> marketed by Procter & Gamble and Aventis Pharmaceuticals. The two companies

> paid for the study.

: I'd have more faith in this study if the two companies who paid

for the study didn't stand to gain from it.