A Three-Year Fosamax ‘Holiday’ Seems Safe
Tue, May 3, 2011 at 02:00AM You may remember the scare about 3 years ago for women taking Fosamax or other bisphosphonate drugs to prevent osteoporosis-related fractures. Women who had been taking one of this class of drugs were advised to stop taking them after 4 to 5 years, in case their bones might have become weakened rather than strengthened. The FLEX study reported in 2006 that patients who discontinued alendronate (Fosamax) had lower bone mineral density and a higher risk of cervical vertebral fracture after 5 years compared with those who stayed on the drug. So the question arose, how long should patients be on a Fosamax holiday without an increased fracture risk? One answer to this came in a presentation from a Loyola researcher at the Annual American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists meeting.
The Loyola researchers studied data from 129 osteoporotic and osteopenic patients who started a drug holiday in 2005 or later. All were taking bisphosphonates – 70% of them were on Fosamax. There was no significant change in lumbar spine or femoral neck bone mineral density after a 3-year holiday.
It seems, therefore, that a 3–year Fosamax holiday is likely to be safe, but 5 years may be too long. The theory is that bisphosphonates block the normal remodeling of bone while at the same time reducing bone turnover. They have a long half-life, i.e. they stay in the bone a long time, allowing for a significant action for a time after medication is halted. So it’s reasonable that taking a drug holiday will not immediately increase the fracture risk. Now it looks as if you have 3, but not 5 years for your holiday. Then it might br wise to re-stat your bisphosphonate – or another osteoporosis-fighting medication. And keep up the exercise all the time!
Reader Comments (1)
That's good to hear but people still need to be more vigilant.