That's because the ads usually highlight the relative risk or benefit. That percentage is much higher than the absolute, or actual, benefit or risk. That's true and it sounds impressive. In a clinical trial, 2.5 percent of 1,545 women taking Fosamax suffered a fracture, compared with 4.8 percent of 1,520 patients who got a placebo. It's also important to remember that none of the medicines is a cure for osteoporosis.
None builds new bone, the elusive goal of any future osteoporosis drug.
One promising new medication, parathyroid hormone, is expected to be submitted for approval to the Food and Drug Administration later this year. It does generate bone growth, noted Robert Lindsay, a New York internist and a founder of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Such measures as taking calcium, exercising and eliminating environmental hazards like throw rugs are equally important in preventing fractures, experts emphasize. Few studies of exercise and its relationship to bone density or fractures exist, although the NIH consensus panel noted that some researchers have found weight-bearing exercise to be effective in reducing the risk of falls and in preserving bone density. Calcium, endorsed as both treatment and preventive, is most easily obtained from dairy products, but is present in other foods as well as supplements.