Bone contains receptors for T3, and too much thyroid hormone accelerates bone turnover, and leads to increased bone loss. Glucocorticoids are damaging to the skeleton. Trabecular bone is preferentially affected, and multiple vertebral compression fractures can be a painful and disabling complication of steroid therapy.
Prevention is the best way to deal with steroid-induced osteoporosis.
Adachi and colleagues reported a 52 week study of the effectiveness of intermittent etidronate treatment to prevent spine and hip bone loss in patients on steroids. This was a twelve month, randomized, placebo controlled study of 141 patients, ages 18 to 90, who had recently been started on steroids.