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Fifteen percent of osteoporosis patients who take 'drug holidays' suffer bone fractures

Published 7 May 2018

Fifteen percent of osteoporosis patients who take 'drug holidays' suffer bone fractures

Patients who take osteoporosis drugs for long periods typically are advised to temporarily discontinue the drugs to prevent rare but serious side effects to the jaw and thighs.

A Loyola Medicine study has found that 15.4 percent of patients who take so-called "drug holidays" from osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates experienced bone fractures. During a six-year follow-up period, the yearly incidence of fractures ranged from 3.7 percent to 9.9 percent, with the most fractures occurring during the fourth and fifth years.

The study by senior author Pauline Camacho, MD, and colleagues was published in the journal Endocrine Practice.

Patients at high risk of fracture who take drug holidays should be closely followed, especially as the drug holiday lengthens, researchers wrote.

Bisphosphonates are the most common medications prescribed for osteoporosis. The drugs slow down the breakdown of bones, helping to maintain bone density and reduce the risk of fractures.

Bisphosphonates have been linked to osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and atypical femur fracture. ONJ occurs when the jawbone is exposed, typically following a dental procedure, and begins to weaken and die. An atypical femur fracture is an unusual fracture of the thigh bone that can occur even with normal weight bearing.

To reduce the risk of these side effects, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology recommend that women at moderate risk for osteoporosis take a drug holiday after five years of oral and three years of intravenous bisphosphonate treatment. Women at higher risk for osteoporosis should take a drug holiday after 10 years of oral and six years of intravenous bisphosphonate treatment.

However, there is minimal data on how long drug holidays should last. The Loyola study was designed to further characterize the increased fracture risk in patients taking drug holidays. The retrospective study examined the records of 371 women and 30 men with osteoporosis or osteopenia who began drug holidays. (Patients with osteopenia have weak bones, but not yet osteoporosis.) The patients had taken bisphosphonates for an average of 6.3 years before beginning drug holidays. The two most frequently prescribed bisphosphonates were alendronate (Fosamax®), taken by 62 percent of patients, and risedronate (Actonel®), taken by 34 percent of patients.

Sixty-two patients (15.4 percent) experienced fractures after going on drug holidays. The most common sites were the wrist, foot, ribs and spine. (Foot fractures are not currently considered osteoporotic fractures.) Those most likely to experience fractures were older and had lower bone mineral density at the beginning of the study. Following fractures, patients were put back on bisphosphonates.

Drug holidays need further assessment, Dr. Camacho and colleagues wrote. "Patients who begin drug holidays at high risk for fracture based on bone mineral density, age or other clinical risk factors warrant close follow-up during the holiday, especially as its duration lengthens. Fracture risk needs to be regularly assessed during the drug holiday and treatment resumed accordingly."

Science Daily

8 comments


lesmal • Ambassador
on 02/12/2018

I have now just been diagnosed with Osteopenia (hip) and Osteoporosis (spine) and am due to visit my Doctor in 2 weeks for Vitamin D, Calcium supplements and to discuss the role of medication... This is a new one for me and I don't understand the severity of the reading, i.e. why its called a 'T Reading' and to what extent the meaning means!

As if I'm not on enough medication already with epilepsy! 


Tigger.co.uk
on 12/08/2019

I have osteoporosis I have had that since being a child it started with coeliac disease which is caused by having brittle bones it has got worse since I have  been taking my cancer pills I take risdronate one a week with a glass of water also I have to have calcium supplement every day which is a chewable pill now I have emphysema I do cough quite a bit so I have to be careful not to crack any of my ribs as when I do cough it really hurts my chest also I have to be very careful when I'm out as if I have a fall it could cause a fracture or split bones when I was little I split the left leg bone and I had to have it broken so they could set it right and it was in a cast for a long time and I had to wear a large boot I was four yrs of age but since then I have had many bad sprains in my wrists and ankles so I have to be very careful 


Tigger.co.uk
on 03/09/2019

I also suffer with deafness I am deaf in both ears and suffer with tinnitus I have had operation on my left ear it was due to a Mastoidectomy  they had to cut the inner ear to drain of the fluid left by an ear infection I suffer with them every time I get a cold ,then i have to go on antibiotics to cure it also i cant wear my hearing aids and then i cant hear anyone or anything they wanted me to have a cochlear fitted mbut I'm 65 and i dont think i can go through that ,so i said no but it doesn't stop the infections i do have a nose spray that i have to use to help stop infections but as soon as i get a cold my infections come back apparently been like this from my school years i think that's why i couldn't always heare people shouting at me but I do wear 2 hearing aids also have a flashing light for my door bell and have a vibrating box under my pillow so if there is a fire it will vibrate and wake me also I have a walking stick with bright red tape so drivers know I'm deaf but not many people know about the tape and what it is used for maybe drivers should learn that when taking there test 

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