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Treatment
Doctors treat osteoporosis by prescribing adequate
intake of calcium and vitamin D and by beginning
the patient on a program of routine weight-bearing
exercise. In addition, several effective medications
are available. For women, estrogen replacement
therapy, alendronate, raloxifene and nasal calcitonin
are all effective clinically-approved treatments
for osteoporosis. Although there are no clinically-approved
treatments for men, alendronate and calcitonin
are effective and widely used. Men who have abnormally
low levels of testosterone (diagnosable by a simple
blood test) can also be treated with testosterone
to help their osteoporosis. For patients who experience
problems or side effects with the standard treatments,
there are approved treatments (for example, etidronate,
pamidronate) that may be better tolerated and
are effective.
Treatment
progress is monitored by bone density measurements
performed every one to two years. To allow for
the most accurate comparison, it is imperative
that all bone density measurements be done on
the same machine in the same facility.
Although
osteoporosis is a chronic (long-term) condition,
proper treatment can result in significant improvements
in bone mass and can decrease the likelihood that
symptoms will appear. Even though bone mass does
not generally return to normal, the risk of fracture
is usually decreased by about 50 percent after
several years of treatment.
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