Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 12, 1990 TAG: 9007120567
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
Women who took the medicine in a two-year experiment conducted at seven U.S. medical centers cut their risk of broken vertebrae in half.
"We think it's extremely encouraging news," said Sandra Raymond, executive director of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. "Our arsenal is very small. Hopefully now, based on these studies, we may have another option."
The medicine, called etidronate, joins two other prescription medicines available to treat osteoporosis, the brittle-bones disease that afflicts an estimated 15 million to 20 million Americans. Because of its apparent advantages, it could become the medicine of choice for many elderly victims.
"This is really exciting," said Dr. Nelson Watts of Emory University, principal author of the study. "We can wait until somebody is already in bad shape and make them better. They won't stand straight or play basketball. But the deterioration will be halted."
Crushed vertebrae are the most common consequence of osteoporosis, a disorder that largely affects women after menopause. There is no evidence so far that etidronate will prevent hip fractures, which are a less common but more serious hazard of the disease.
The study was published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. In May, the journal carried a smaller study by European researchers that reached similar conclusions. Both studies were financed by Procter & Gamble's Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, which makes etidronate.
In the latest work, 429 women with osteoporosis were randomly assigned to take etidronate or dummy placebos for two years. When it was over, the spinal bone density of those getting etidronate had increased 5 percent, and they suffered half as many vertebral fractures as the other women.
During their younger years, people lose old bone and make new bone at about the same rate. Later on, however, many lose bone faster than they replace it.
Etidronate works by slowing the body's resorption of old bone. This allows the slow production of new bone to outpace the loss. The medicine resulted in a two-thirds drop in fractures in women with the weakest bones, the study showed.
During the study, the women took the medicine for two weeks out of every three months. The drug is already on the market for treatment of Paget's disease, another bone ailment. However, it has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for osteoporosis.
The only prescription drugs approved for treatment of osteoporosis are estrogen and calcitonin.
Etidronate carries no known side effects, costs $200 to $300 per year and is taken in pill form. Doctors say these are important advantages. Calcitonin requires three injections a week and costs 10 times more.
While estrogen is a highly effective treatment for protecting bones during the first years after menopause, doctors are unsure whether it helps older women. Estrogen, which is a sex hormone, cannot be taken by women at high risk of breast cancer. It also can cause resumption of menstrual bleeding.
by CNB