Current Therapy in Postmenopausal Women and its Effect on

1
Current Therapy in Postmenopausal Women and its
Effect on Osteoporosis

• Jeannette Ortega
• April 26, 2001

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Menopause

• age of onset 45-55 years
• menstrual cycle stops permanently
• production of female sex hormones drops

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Osteoporosis

• net excess of bone resorption
• loss of bone mass
• change in bone architecture
• closely related to menopause due to estrogen
  insufficiency

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Current Therapies for Menopause

• Estrogen (estrogen replacement therapy)
• Estrogen and Progesterone (hormone replacement
  therapy)
• Biphosphonates
• Calcitonin

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Alendronate and Estrogen Effects in
Postmenopausal Women with Low Bone Mineral Density

• Henry Bone et. al.
• The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and
  Metabolism

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Rationale

• The effect of combined therapy on bone density
  and safety concerns associated with its use.

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Subjects and Methods

• 2 year study
• 425 postmenopausal, osteoporotic women
• 4 treatment regimens
• alendronate and conjugated equine estrogen (CEE)
• CEE and placebo alendronate
• alendronate and placebo CEE
• placebo alendronate and placebo CEE

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Subject and Methods

• Measurements
• bone mass density (BMD)
• biochemical markers of bone turnover
• safety and tolerability
• bone biopsy with histomorphometry

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Results

• BMD

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Results
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Results
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Results
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Results

• Biochemical markers of bone turnover

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Results
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Results

• Safety and tolerability

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Results

• Histomorphometry

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Conclusions

• Favorable effects in BMD with combined therapy
• Decrease in bone markers
• Good tolerability
• Normal mineralization, lamellar bone, and bone
  quality