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| |  DG DISPATCH - ASBMR: Etidronate And Alendronate Effective In Men With Osteoporosis By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News TORONTO, ON -- September 26, 2000 -- Didronel (etidronate) and Fosamax (alendronate) are both effective for increasing bone mineral density in older men with osteoporosis. Researchers at McMaster University have also found that it is possible to switch from one of these drugs to the other. They presented their findings today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), being held in Toronto, Canada. The observational study followed four groups of men who were treated at the University’s tertiary care centre. They were osteoporotic for a number of reasons, including long-time corticosteroid use and rheumatoid arthritis, said Rolf Sebaldt, MD, who is a rheumatologist and assistant professor of medicine at the university. The men were treated with either etidronate or alendronate for a minimum of two years. A small group of these men was allowed to switch from etidronate to alendronate at the end of the second year. A fourth group received no drugs and was used as a control. At enrolment, bone mineral density (BMD) scores were lower than the controls in all three of the study groups. By the end of the first year, there were significant increases seen in BMD of the lumbar spine for each of the groups -- 3.9 percent for those receiving etidronate; 6.3 percent for those using alendronate and 6.6 percent for those who switched from etidronate to alendronate. BMD increases at the femoral neck were slight, though measurable -- 1.5 percent in those receiving etidronate and 4.7 percent for those receiving alendronate. "The apparently greater increase in BMD at the lumbar spine did not reach statistical significance," he added. Those who switched medications actually recorded a slight drop in BMD of less than one percent, which Dr. Sebaldt said was insignificant. While the results of this small study confirm findings established in earlier investigations -- that etidronate and alendronate are useful in helping osteoporotic men re-build lost bone mass -- the numbers are too small to conclusively say that one is superior to the other, Dr. Sebaldt told Doctor’s Guide. "There were no differences observed between the groups in BMD of the spine or the hip, but that could possibly be because of sample size," he said. He noted that there were only 97 men in the etidronate group, 36 in the alendronate group and 19 who switched from one medication to the other. The figures don’t support the use of one drug over the other, he said, since this was a small study. The data do show that either drug may be beneficial. Since the men’s osteoporosis was due to various factors and diseases, the study offers some measure of proof that more men could be candidates for anti-osteoporosis therapy, a fact that is often overlooked given that osteoporosis affects only one-tenth as many men as it does women, Dr Sebaldt said.
Related links: Fosamax, Didronel.
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