Clinical management of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Today, 24 million Americans are at risk for osteoporosis. Of the 2 million fractures that occur each year in the United States, approximately 1.3 million are directly due to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, a preventable and treatable condition, takes on great importance because of the enormous impact these fractures can have on mortality, health care costs, patient productivity, independence, and self-esteem. Advances in diagnostic techniques and improved understanding of risk factors allow clinicians greater acumen in the classification and diagnosis of osteoporosis. Today, FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis includes calcium and vitamin D supplementation, estrogen and progesterone, and calcitonin-salmon. This article presents a review of the current understanding of each of these as well as experimental forms of therapy.
Wisneski
L A
LA
Department of Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*