Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Millions Take Chances With Osteoporosis Than Risk Drugs’ Rare Side Effects

Friday, June 3, 2016

Millions Take Chances With Osteoporosis Than Risk Drugs’ Rare Side Effects

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In a seemingly bizarre twist into the treatment of osteoporosis, the use of common medicines prescribed for this condition fell to a staggering 50 percent from 2008 to 2012, with millions of Americans fearing it may cause their jawbones and thighbones to break with the same millions take chances with osteoporosis and not risk it at all, no matter how rare these side effects are.

The millions take chances with osteoporosis claim they will not risk it

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, National Bone Health Alliance and the National Osteoporosis Foundation on May 2016 issued an urgent call for doctors to aggressively push for awareness and treatment among high risk patients.

This followed several studies published in medical journals and periodicals on the effects of traditional osteoporosis treatments and its possible but rare side effects and patients obviously affected by the findings causing them to abandon their treatments.

“Ninety percent of patients, when you talk to them about starting one of these drugs, won’t go on,” said Dr. Paul D. Miller, medical director of the Colorado Center for Bone Research, a medical practice in Lakewood. “Ninety percent who are on the drugs want to come off. The fear factor is huge.”

At least half of those who started taking the drugs stopped within the year

Studies show that the likelihood of a person taking the drugs as bone density drops to very low levels can reduce the risk by half, compared to risks of the side effects which have been placed at around 10 to 40 in 100,000 osteoporosis patients who broke their thighbones and even fewer than 1 in 100,000 was affected by the jawbone issue.

“You only need to treat 50 people to prevent a fracture, but you need to treat 40,000 to see an atypical fracture,” said Dr. Clifford J. Rosen, a professor of medicine at Tufts University who has no association with the makers of the drugs.

Doctors are now hoping that the new types of medications that could avoid these rare side effects and quell public perceptions on the rare incidence of side effects on people could soon help address this issue.

Unless these fears are allayed soon, no matter how rare or not common place, millions take chances with osteoporosis without having to think twice.

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