New study finds small risk of fractures from medications
designed to strengthen bones. There's been some concern that
drugs meant to help prevent broken bones might actually increase
the risk of major fractures, but new research on the matter may
be reassuring to women on the osteoporosis drugs. Women whose
bone scans show they're at risk for osteoporosis are often
prescribed drugs called bisphosphonates. They slow down the
turnover of bone, reducing the risk for breaks. Those
medications -- Fosamax, Boniva and others -- come with a warning
that they've been linked to what doctors call "atypical
fractures", sudden breaks of the femur that have nothing to do
with osteoporosis. It's heightened anxiety among patients on the
drugs. The new research shows that overall risk is small. Dr.
Margaret Gourlay treats women at risk for osteoporosis at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She says the new
study of more than a thousand women shows the benefits of
bisphosphonates outweigh any risk. "Those atypical