Fosamax Has Long Lasting Effect on Bones -US Study

The benefits of a drug widely used to strengthen aging bones persist for years, even after patients quit taking it, a study released on Wednesday found.

The benefits of a drug widely used to strengthen aging bones persist for years, even after patients quit taking it, a study released on Wednesday found. The 10-year study published in the New England Journal of Medicine could allay fears that the drug alendronate, also known by its trade name Fosamax, would lose effectiveness. Its findings are important for patients who, for medical reasons, might be forced to temporarily give up the drug, which is made by Merck & Company Inc. and used to treat osteoporosis and similar diseases. “It (alendronate) has a steady, sustained effect,” Dr. Henry Bone, the chief author of the study, told Reuters. Few drugs have been studied for so long, said Bone, director of the Michigan Bone and Mineral Clinic in Detroit. The researchers found that among post-menopausal women volunteers who took 10 milligrams of alendronate daily over 10 years, the average bone mineral density in their spines had increased by 13.7 percent. Usually, bone density declines with age in such women. Five years after halting treatment, bone deterioration was still less than half the normal rate. “It took several years to see a decline in the effect of treatment, and that’s important information if someone has to interrupt therapy,” Bone said. “But it’s probably better to stay on the treatment over the long run.” The alendronate study, financed by Merck, was originally planned for only three years. It was repeatedly extended to look for long-term effects. (Source: Reuters Health, New England Journal of Medicine, March 2004)