Loading...
Bisphosphonate drugs such as alendronate now are used widely to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal females. But are these drugs effective for men?
In this multicenter study supported by the drug's manufacturer, 241 men with osteoporosis (mean age, 63) were randomized to receive either alendronate (10 mg daily) or placebo. On average, subjects' bone-mineral density (BMD) was about 2 standard deviations below the mean for young men, and half the subjects had previous vertebral fractures. Men with secondary causes for osteoporosis, other than low serum testosterone, were excluded.
After 2 years, mean lumbar spine BMD had increased by 7.1 percent in the alendronate group and by 1.8 percent in the placebo group; at the femoral neck, mean BMD had…