TUESDAY, March 26, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Recommendations have been developed for the pharmacological management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women; the clinical practice guideline was published online March 25 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism to coincide with the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, held from March 23 to 26 in New Orleans.
Richard Eastell, M.D., from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, and colleagues formulated clinical practice guidelines for the pharmacological management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
The authors recommend treating postmenopausal women at high risk for fractures with pharmacological therapies, especially those women with a recent fracture; they say the benefits of these therapies outweigh the risks. Initial treatment with bisphosphonates is recommended to reduce fracture risk in postmenopausal women at high risk for fracture. Fracture risk should be reassessed after three to five years in women taking bisphosphonates; those who remain at high risk should continue treatment, whereas a “bisphosphonate holiday” should be considered for those at low-to-moderate risk. Denosumab is an alternative initial treatment for postmenopausal women at high risk for osteoporotic fractures; fracture risk should be reassessed after five to 10 years.
“There is a considerable gap in the treatment of osteoporosis,” a coauthor said in a statement. “Most women will not take antiosteoporosis therapies despite their efficacy, and those that do often stop. As a result, the rate of hip fractures has leveled off and may be increasing.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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