The past 10 years have witnessed tremendous advances in ourability to treat osteoporosis. The old mainstays of therapy,estrogen and calcitonin, have fallen out of favor because ofconcern about long-term safety or lack of efficacy. In theirwake have come a selective estrogen-receptor modulator (raloxifene),bisphosphonates (alendronate and risedronate), and most recently,parathyroid hormone. Raloxifene and the bisphosphonates belongto the class of antiresorptive drugs: by inhibiting bone resorption,they prevent further bone loss, and since bone formation andfurther mineralization continue for some time, these agentsalso result in moderate increases in bone mineral density. Incontrast, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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From the Endocrine Research Unit, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
This editorial was published at www.nejm.org on September 20, 2003.
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