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Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders

Romosozumab Has Biggest BMD Benefit in First Year of Treatment

Anne Harding  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Romosozumab shows smaller benefits for increasing bone mineral density (BMD) in the second year of treatment compared to the first, new research suggests. The extension of a phase 2 study in postmenopausal women with low bone mass also found BMD decreased sharply when patients on romosozumab were switched to placebo after two…

Existing CT Scans as Good as DXA for Assessing Hip Fracture Risk

Scott Baltic  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A “biomechanical” analysis of a previously taken pelvic or abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan is at least as accurate in assessing an individual’s hip fracture risk as a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, according to new research. This accuracy of the hip bone mineral density (BMD) T-score as measured by the biomechanical…

RA Patients May Not Receive Needed Osteoporosis Screening & Treatment

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

New research examined the frequency of osteoporosis screening and treatment for RA patients from 2003–2014, including four years following the release of the 2010 ACR guideline on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis prevention and treatment. The results: Approximately half of RA patients for whom treatment was indicated never received osteoporosis medication. Researchers also found that RA patients, despite their increased risk for developing osteoporosis, were not more likely to receive osteoporosis care than OA patients…

Study Urges Caution with Steroid Injections for Hip Osteoarthritis

  |  

For patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA), pain management and maintaining function are primary therapy goals. Current guidelines offer recommendations on nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches to addressing these issues in hip OA. For patients in whom pharmacologic management is considered, the use of intra-articular steroid injections is one option. In its 2012 guidelines (the most current…

Denosumab May Work Better Than Risedronate for Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The RANKL inhibitor denosumab is superior to the bisphosphonate risedronate in increasing bone-mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine in patients just starting or continuing steroid therapy, according to 12-month results of a 24-month randomized controlled study. “Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is the most common form of secondary osteoporosis and increases the risk of…

Abaloparatide Appears Safe, Effective for Boosting BMD in Women 80 & Up

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Abaloparatide appears to be a safe and effective drug for increasing bone mineral density (BMD) in women 80 and older, new research shows. The study is a post hoc analysis of the Abaloparatide Comparator Trial in Vertebral Endpoints (ACTIVE) trial, which found patients who received abaloparatide subcutaneously for 18 months had increased…

Denosumab Boosts BMD after Teriparatide Treatment for Osteoporosis

Marilynn Larkin  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—After discontinuation of teriparatide, increases in bone mineral density (BMD) are greater with denosumab than with zoledronic acid, but whether that translates into a decreased fragility fracture risk remains unknown, researchers say. Teriparatide was the first anabolic treatment approved for osteoporosis in the U.S. It has been shown to increase BMD, and…