In people with hyperparathyroidism, a frequent cause of osteoporosis, treatment with bisphosphonates rather increases the risk of fractures than reduces it.

The best choice for such patients, American scientists consider a surgical operation to remove parathyroid glands.

This is hard to believe, but the latest study clearly demonstrates that in the treatment of hyperparathyroidism, fractures in patients occur more often than in the absence of therapy in general.

Recall that osteoporosis - a decrease in the strength of bone tissue - can occur not only against the background of aging and menopause, but also in violation of the regulation of calcium metabolism of the parathyroid glands.

According to researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), the results they obtained were "unexpected and discouraging". Of course, it was always believed that treatment with bisphosphonates helps to strengthen bone tissue and reduce the risk of fractures in such patients.

"These drugs really make the bones look denser in the pictures, but this kind is deceptive. We must take into account that defects remain in the bone structure. But we do not know why this happens, "- trying to find an explanation for the results obtained, Dr. Michael Yeh.

For the study, the results of which appeared recently in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers analyzed the data of 6 272 patients at the Kaiser Permanente South California clinic who were diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism. The study was limited to the period from 1995 to 2010.

The statistics of fractures in the next 10 years after the diagnosis looked like this:.

• 56 (206) * fractures per 1000 if there is no treatment at all • 86 (303) fractures per 1000 when treated with bisphosphonates • 20 (157) fractures per 1000 for surgical treatment * - out of the braces are fractures of the hip, in brackets - fractures of any bones.

Comments, as they say, are superfluous.

Although it is now necessary to double-check the effectiveness of other drugs, researchers say that biphosphonates should be immediately discarded, as from ineffective treatment, giving a false sense of confidence and exposing patients to serious risks.

"We could not find any evidence of the effectiveness of this class of drugs, although they have been prescribed by our doctors for more than 20 years. The results definitely make bisphosphonates a less attractive option on the background of surgical treatment of hyperparathyroidism, "concluded Dr. Yeh.

medbe. en.