Treating osteoporosis

Letter to the Editor I read your summary of osteoporosis treatment1 with a mixture of interest, and of dismay that I still have to treat 99 patients to prevent one serious fracture. Without an accompanying analysis of serious adverse effects of the drugs, this does not inspire me to treat my patient...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian prescriber 2016-12, Vol.39 (6), p.190-190
Main Author: Metcalf, Tim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Committees
Fractures
Letters to the Editor
Osteoporosis
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Letter to the Editor I read your summary of osteoporosis treatment1 with a mixture of interest, and of dismay that I still have to treat 99 patients to prevent one serious fracture. Without an accompanying analysis of serious adverse effects of the drugs, this does not inspire me to treat my patients at all. But there is another factor that has not been analysed – progress in the orthopaedic treatment and aftercare of fractures. Are there any data to suggest that the rationale for osteoporosis treatment – prevention of large bone fracture – is in fact less than it was in the past due to non-pharmacological advances in medicine? At what point does the number needed to treat cross the line into ineffectiveness, or the line where the cure is worse than the disease? Tim Metcalf General practitioner Bombala, NSW
ISSN:0312-8008
1839-3942
DOI:10.18773/austprescr.2016.087