I would avoid “bone-building” drugs Fosamax and Actonel like the plague

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Friday, March 05, 2010 1:34 pm Email this article
The “bone-building” drugs Fosamax (alendronate) and Actonel (risedronate) look like a disaster to me. I would avoid them like the plaque.

I say this based on a letter by Susan Ott, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Her area of expertise is bone metabolism. See here.

“Many people believe that these drugs [Fosamax and Actonel] are ‘bone builders,’ but the evidence shows that they are actually ‘bone hardeners.,’” Dr. Ott writes.

“In fact, bone biopsy studies from patients treated with risedronate [Actonel] or alendronate [Fosamax] show that the mineralizing surface, which is forming bone, decreases 80% to 96% after 3 years of treatment.”

“[These drugs] deposit in the skeleton with a half-life of more than 10 years.”

“With continuous use, the drugs will accumulate [in the body].”

“It is possible that the bone will eventually become brittle or will be unable to repair microdamage.”

“One-year animal studies using doses 6 times higher than recommended for humans show decreased bone formation in both spine and ileum and increased numbers of microcracks.”

REFERENCE

Ott S. New treatments for brittle bones. Ann Intern Med. 2004 Sep 7, 141(5):406-07.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Susan Ott, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine 
Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition
University of Washington Medical Center
1959 NE Pacific
UW Mailbox 356426
Seattle, WA 98195-6426

206 543-3470 phone
206 598-4288 phone
206 685-3781 fax

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Dr. Ott’s Osteoporosis Website

Dr. Ott’s Osteoporosis Website

Dr. Ott also has an osteoporosis website.

 

PDF version of this presentation can be downloaded from here

A PDF version of this presentation can be downloaded by clicking here or by clicking on the image below.

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Actonel (risedronate)

• Fosamax (alendronate)

• YouTube videos