TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/012389/01238900.011

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 2KB | 31 lines

MEDICINE, Page 54

Bone Booster

A treatment for osteoporosis


    Millions of Americans -- most often older women -- suffer to
some degree from osteoporosis, the potentially crippling affliction
that thins the bones and makes them susceptible to fractures. When
the loss of bone occurs in the spine -- one of the most common
sites -- patients may experience shortened stature, curvature of
the back and pain in both the back and abdomen. Women who take
calcium pills can sometimes prevent the onset or progression of the
disease, but there has been no successful treatment for patients
who have substantial bone loss.

    Last week researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center at Dallas announced a promising new way of
increasing bone density that seems to reverse the effects of spinal
osteoporosis. The treatment relies on sodium fluoride, the chemical
used by dentists to strengthen teeth and in toothpaste to prevent
cavities. When the drug was tested years ago as a treatment for
osteoporosis, it produced severe side effects like stomach
bleeding, and while the fluoride caused bones to thicken, they were
still easily broken. But the Texas researchers tried giving
patients slow-dissolving fluoride pills that released the drug only
after leaving the stomach. The fluoride was administered
intermittently and with a calcium compound so that the new bone
would form gradually and be strong. When the preparation was given
to 251 women with spinal-bone loss, bone mass increased 3% to 6%
a year and the frequency of vertebral fractures dropped
significantly. Side effects were minor and occurred in only 5% of
the patients. The treatment has not been shown to work for
osteoporosis of the hip or wrist.