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Continuous administration of exogenous parathyroid hormone leads to a net resorption of bone; in contrast, intermittently injected hormone induces net bone formation. This observation led these researchers to examine whether injected parathyroid hormone can prevent fractures. In an international, manufacturer-sponsored, randomized trial, 1637 postmenopausal women with at least 1 atraumatic vertebral fracture received daily subcutaneous injections of either 40 or 20 μg of recombinant human parathyroid hormone (1-34) or of placebo; mean duration of treatment was 18 months.
New vertebral fractures occurred significantly less often in the parathyroid hormone groups than in the placebo group (4 percent, 5 percent, and 14 percent in the 40-μg, 20-…