Alendronate in the treatment of osteoporosis: A review of the clinical trials

Osteoporosis is a highly prevalent disease. More than half of postmenopausa l women will experience fractures. Women at high risk (osteoporosis as meas ured by bone density, low trauma fractures of any type, or certain other ri sk factors) often require pharmacological therapy. However, surveys show th at most women who have recently had fractures are currently not being treat ed. Recent results from the first megatrial of osteoporosis with >6400 part icipants, the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT), have provided important ad vances in our understanding of osteoporosis and the efficacy of alendronate . The FIT study and other large clinical trials show that alendronate effec tively increases bone density, reduces the risk of hip and vertebral fractu res by approximately half within the first 12-18 months, and, most importan tly, reduces the health consequences of fractures. Alendronate is also effe ctive for preventing bone loss in early postmenopausal women. Thus, alendro nate represents an important option for preventing and treating this common and debilitating disease. This article summarizes the wealth of data from FIT and other studies of alendronate in the context of the burden of illnes s associated with osteoporosis.