A study identified denosumab as a useful treatment for patients initiating or continuing glucocorticoids who are at risk for fractures. Denosumab had clinical effects similar to risedronate but was more effective than risedronate in the improvement of bone mineral density at the lumbar spine…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Romosozumab shows smaller benefits for increasing bone mineral density (BMD) in the second year of treatment compared to the first, new research suggests. The extension of a phase 2 study in postmenopausal women with low bone mass also found BMD decreased sharply when patients on romosozumab were switched to placebo after two…
New research examined the frequency of osteoporosis screening and treatment for RA patients from 2003–2014, including four years following the release of the 2010 ACR guideline on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The results: Approximately half of RA patients for whom treatment was indicated never received osteoporosis medication. Researchers also found that RA patients, despite their increased risk for developing osteoporosis, were not more likely to receive osteoporosis care than OA patients…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The RANKL inhibitor denosumab is superior to the bisphosphonate risedronate in increasing bone-mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine in patients just starting or continuing steroid therapy, according to 12-month results of a 24-month randomized controlled study. “Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is the most common form of secondary osteoporosis and increases the risk of…
A recent study found that dermatology patients taking long-term steroids are not always evaluated for steroid-induced osteoporosis…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant-cell arteritis (GCA) have similarly increased risks of fracture, compared with the general population, researchers have found. “It is of surprise that patients with GCA have a similar fracture risk to those with PMR,” Dr. Zoe Paskins from Keele University, in Staffordshire, told Reuters Health by…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Treatment-related changes in bone formation markers predict vertebral-fracture reduction with anti-resorptive drug therapy, according to a meta-regression analysis of 14 clinical trials. “These results may be useful for the development of new osteoporosis treatments or when considering new populations or dosing regimens with existing treatments,” Dr. Douglas C. Bauer from the University…
(Reuters Health)—The incidence of hip fractures in older women in the U.S. is rising after more than a decade of decline, according to a large new study of Medicare recipients. Hip fracture rates declined each year from 2002–2012, the researchers found. But starting in 2013, hip fracture rates leveled off and were higher than expected….
Case Ms. A is an 82-year-old woman who presented to the rheumatology office for evaluation of osteoporosis. She had been diagnosed with postmenopausal osteoporosis at age 62 after sustaining a right wrist fracture. She was started on alendronate 70 mg weekly and reported medication compliance. At age 79, she sustained an atraumatic right femur fracture….
In a new study, patients taking denosumab had greater treatment adherence over two years than patients on alendronate and other anti-osteoporosis agents…