Normal Bone                      Osteoporotic Bone

      

 What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a thinning of bones causing fragility and commonly breakage. Most people think of their bones as solid, but bone is a living tissue like your heart and brain, just harder. Bone always changes. Your body keeps your bones strong and healthy by continuously replacing old bone with new bone. Osteoporosis disrupts this process, causing the body to remove bone without replacing it.

 What Causes It?

Osteoporosis occurs when the body stops replacing old bone with enough new bone and when too much of the old bone is reabsorbed by the body, or both. The essential minerals for normal bone formation are calcium and phosphate. As you grow up, the body uses these minerals to produce bones. When calcium intake is insufficient or if the body is unable to absorb enough calcium from your diet, bone production and bone tissues suffer. Calcium and phosphate can also be reabsorbed back into the body from the bones, weakening the bones. Both situations result in brittle and fragile breakable bones.

What Are the Symptoms?

Osteoporosis is a silent disease caused by loss of bone density. The first symptom of osteoporosis is a fracture, or break in the bone, a complication of the condition that may cause serious health risks. Many women and men go through life without knowing they have severe bone loss until they break their hip, spine, or wrist.

Who Is At Risk?

Women are at greatest risk for developing osteoporosis, although men may develop it as well. Osteoporosis is suspected if there has already been a fracture with little or no trauma.

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Prevention
Early prevention minimizes further bone loss. Taking a bone density test to measure your bone mass helps your doctor determine whether medication is needed to maintain your bone mass and prevent further bone loss. The bone density test is safe, quick and easy.

Osteoporosis prevention is important, while treatment exists, there is no cure. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends these four steps to prevent osteoporosis:

   A balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamin D

   Walking or dancing 

   A healthy lifestyle, not smoking and moderate alcohol intake

   Bone density testing 

FORTEO^® Drug Therapy

FORTEO^® is a natural bone-building hormone, which appears to be the most effective treatment to date for osteoporosis. The drug is based on the parathyroid hormone, which is ordinarily secreted by tiny glands in the neck. When given to volunteers with osteoporosis, it doubles their normal rate of bone formation. FORTEO^® is the first in a new class of drugs called bone formation agents that work primarily to stimulate new bone by increasing the number and action of bone-forming cells called osteoblasts.  Picture a road crew fixing potholes, and you have a good idea of how FORTEO^® works to repair damage to bone.  Put another way, the damage in the bone is like potholes in a road.  FORTEO^® works like a street paver by filling in the holes and adding a new surface over the entire area.

For more on FORTEO^®, visit www.FORTEO.com
CLICK HERE for FORTEO^® FORM.

RECLAST
Reclast (zoledronic acid, sometimes called zoledronate) is in a group of medicines called bisphosphonates (bis FOS fo nayts). Zoledronic acid inhibits the release of calcium from bones. Reclast is used to treat Paget's disease in men and women. Reclast is also used to treat or prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, and to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis. It is used to treat or prevent osteoporosis in people who will be taking certain steroid medicines for 12 months or longer.

For more on RECLAST, visit www.RECLAST.com

BONIVA IV
BONIVA is a prescription medication used for osteoporosis treatment in women after menopause.BONIVA helps reverse bone loss in most women who take it, even though they won't be able to see or feel a difference.
For BONIVA to treat osteoporosis, you have to take it as prescribed. BONIVA will not work if you stop taking it.

For more on BONIVA, visit www.BONIVA.com