TREATMENT OF OSTEOPOROSIS WITH ORAL ALENDRONATE - A CLINICAL-EXPERIENCE

We reviewed data from 157 postmenopausal women who were treated with o ral alendronate for osteoporosis. Sixty women completed approximately 1 year of therapy and had two bone density measurements. Significant i ncreases (P<.0001) in bone density occurred at the lumbar spine (4.3%) and femoral neck (2.8%). Bone density also increased in patients who had taken other antiresorptive agents prior to initiation of alendrona te therapy. The frequency of side effects in our patients (20.3%) was higher than that previously reported in clinical trials. Twelve percen t of our total population (59.3% of those with side effects) discontin ued treatment because of side effects. Although this report describes an uncontrolled clinical experience, our results suggest that oral ale ndronate is an effective treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, pro ducing responses in bone mineral density similar to those in clinical trials.