How big is the bang from osteoporosis drugs?
From Susan Brown, PhD Answering the question “how big is the bang from osteoporosis drugs?” can be quite challenging. One reason is that the statistical calculations are complex and highly manipulated making them difficult to understand. Another is that the subjects included in the drug studies are generally highly-selected and may not represent “real-world” populations. Recently scientists took an important step to help us separate hype from reality in regard to the benefits of bone drugs. Researchers asked if “real-world” patients taking bone drugs received the same fracture-reduction benefits seen in the clinical trials. After analysis of hundreds of studies, they found that highly compliant, “real world” patients on osteoporosis drugs experienced a 21% reduction in all clinical fractures. This compares to the 24% overall clinical fracture reduction experienced by subjects in osteoporosis drug clinical trials. What a different messages than we often hear — such as how bone drug...