Medscape reported at the 2010 American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons that a study was done on the long term implication of bisphosphonates (popular type drugs: Fosamax and Boniva). They found that after 4 years, (I quote lead researcher Dr. Lane) "that the bone was very, very old" when they performed autopsies on patients who were on these drugs and had suffered fractures. They also reported "peculiar" fractures. Here's the rationale. All tissue in the body gets replenished. We get new lung cells, new kidney cells, and new bone cells. The body replaces lung cells very frequently and bone cells get replaced very infrequently. Cells called osteoclasts go through the bone and tear down the old bone and osteoblasts follow them and make new bone. These medications inhibit osteoclasts from doing their job. Therefore, bone is not torn down. And if old bone is not dissolved, then the body is unable to make new bone. In our fabulous scientific jury rigging that we call medicine, we've "cured" one problem and now created a new one. Instead of spending all our research money to figure out what is happening to the bones of the elderly and how we can teach them how to eat and exercise to maintain bone mass, we've decided that it makes more sense to stop one the important body processes and keep the body from regenerating it's bone. So surprise!! We now are starting to figure out that taking this "short cut" was not a blessing after all but now we have a dilemma. Short term gains with long term implications. It reminds me of someone who tries to pay for his rent for a few months with his credit card. At some point, he's going to have to deal with the real issue and then he's going to realize that he's created an even bigger mess. So despite what the flying nun is telling you about Boniva, don't take the short cut. http://amplify.com/u/390i
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