Effect of the fluoride/calcium regimen on vertebral fracture occurrence in postmenopausal osteoporosis:​ comparison with conventional therapy

Riggs, B. Lawrence; Seeman, Ego; Hodgson, Stephen F.; Taves, Donald R.; O'Fallon, W. Michael

Affiliations

¹Division of Endocrinology/Metabolism and the Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology; Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minn

²Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, N.Y.

Abstract

We assessed the rates of vertebral fracture in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Forty-five patients were not treated (91 person-years of observation); 59 were treated conventionally, with calcium (alone or combined with estrogen) or vitamin D or both (218 years); and 61 were treated with sodium fluoride combined with conventional therapy (251 years). The fracture rate (per thousand person-years) was 834 in untreated patients, 419 in those given calcium with or without vitamin D, 304 in those given fluoride and calcium with or without vitamin D, 181 in those given estrogen and calcium with or without vitamin D, and 53 in those given fluoride, estrogen, and calcium with or without vitamin D. It was reduced in all treatment groups (P<0.001 for calcium and P<1×10^-6 for other combinations); fluoride (one year of treatment) and estrogen (but not vitamin D) independently reduced the rate from that observed with calcium alone (P<0.001). The combination of calcium, fluoride, and estrogen was more effective than any other combination (P<0.001). These results provide grounds for optimism about the efficacy of combinations of available agents with sodium fluoride for fracture in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Links

DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198202253060802

PubMed: 6276746

WoS: A1982NC26900002

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Cited By (20)

Year	Entry
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2010	Trinward A. Osteoporosis Drugs Prevent Bone Loss, Normalize Metabolic Parameters and Negatively Correlate Bone and Fat [Master's thesis]. Stony Brook, NY: Stony Brook University; 2010.