Kidney and Metabolic Bone Diseases Vol.28 No.2(9)

Theme Therapeutic drugs for osteoporosis
Title Adverse reactions to, and long–term safety of, pharmacotherapy for osteoporosis
Publish Date 2015/04
Author Jun Iwamoto Institute for Integrated Sports Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine
[ Summary ] In today's aging society in Japan, preventing fragility fractures among postmenopausal women and older people with osteoporosis is the obligation of physicians, nurses, and other medical staff. Medications are necessary to prevent such fractures, and a strategy for minimizing the adverse reactions to these drugs while maximizing their anti-fracture efficacy is required. The short- and long-term efficacy and safety of selective estrogen receptor modulators, bisphosphonates, and denosumab have been previously established in clinical studies. In real-life clinical practice, however, adverse reactions to pharmacotherapy, such as acute phase reactions induced immediately after the initiation of monthly bisphosphonate therapy, hypocalcemia caused by denosumab, and osteonecrosis of the jaw and atypical femoral fractures associated with long-term bisphosphonate and denosumab therapies, should be taken into consideration and avoided at any cost.
back