A recently completed study shows that calcitonin-salmon nasal spray reduced by 36 percent the incidence of new spinal fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Dr. Charles Chesnut, professor of radiology and medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, presented results of the study today at the European Congress on Osteoporosis in Berlin.
Spinal fractures result in such irreversible changes as loss of height and stooped posture.
However, fractures of the spine and a shrinking frame are not inevitable consequences of aging. Calcitonin-salmon is currently indicated for treatment of osteoporosis in women who are more than five years past menopause and for whom estrogen replacement therapy is not an option. The study was funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, which markets the drug in the U.S. as Miacalcin Nasal Spray. There was no increase in side effects overall compared with women receiving placebo. The data confirm the ability of a medicine known to be safe to reduce spinal fractures.