Yeungnam Univ J Med.  1999 Dec;16(2):155-168.

Recent Advances in the Drug Therapy of Osteoporosis

• Lee HW

Abstract

Osteoporosis is one of the most important public health problems facing the aging population. Drug therapy for osteoporosis can be divided operationally into two main categories: drugs that inhibit bone resorption, and thus reduce bone turnover, and those that stimulate bone formation, exerting an anabolic effect. Antiresorptive agents such as estrogens, calcitonin, and bisphosphonates are most effective in the prevention of osteoporosis. Formation-stimulating agents such as sodium fluoride or monofluorophosphate, parathyroid hormone fragments, and anabolic steroids are of potential value in the treatment of established osteoporosis, where bone mass s already low and benefit from antiresorptive drug is likelyto be small. Recently, raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, has become available in various countries for clinical use in the treatment of involutional osteoporsis . This paper will review the use of these drugs in postmenopausal woman.

Keyword

Osteoporosis; Antiresorptive agents; Formation-stimulating agents

MeSH Terms

Aging
Anabolic Agents
Bone Density Conservation Agents
Bone Resorption
Calcitonin
Diphosphonates
Drug Therapy*
Estrogens
Female
Humans
Osteogenesis
Osteoporosis*
Parathyroid Hormone
Public Health
Raloxifene Hydrochloride
Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators
Sodium Fluoride
Steroids
Anabolic Agents
Bone Density Conservation Agents
Calcitonin
Diphosphonates
Estrogens
Parathyroid Hormone
Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators
Sodium Fluoride
Steroids