May 2, 2007 2:11 pm US/Mountain
New Drug Offers Hope For Osteoporosis Sufferers
BOSTON (CBS) ―
Experts are excited about a promising new treatment for osteoporosis, which they estimate afflicts more than 10 million Americans, most of them women.
The disease causes bones to deteriorate and often break, but an experimental drug has been shown to strengthen bones in just one dose, given annually.
Marjorie Hatzmann is kicking up her heels these days, but that hasn't always been the case. She has osteoporosis, which has led to several broken bones.
"My cousin came one time and gave me a big hug, and didn't realize I was that fragile," she said, "because he broke a couple of ribs."
So Hatzmann joined a study testing an experimental bone treatment called zolendronic acid, or Reclast. Doctors such as Felicia Cosman of Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, N.Y., are very excited by the results.
The New England Journal of Medicine study found that, in postmenopausal women, the drug reduced the risk of spine fracture by 70 percent. It reduced hip fractures by 41 percent, and all other broken bones decreased by 25 percent.
"It was very effective," Cosman said. "At least as effective, if not more so, than any other drug on the market today."
Like a brick, bone is strong but also porous, with thousands of tiny holes. In a way, osteoporosis creates more of those holes. Eventually, bones lose their density, become brittle and are more likely to break.
The new drug stops that deterioration.
There are similar treatments, but the pills have to be taken regularly. Women often forget or simply stop because of side-effects.
Reclast is given just once a year, intravenously, at a doctor's office. "It takes 15 minutes and then you're done," Cosman said.
Experts say the side-effects were minimal. However, a small percentage of patients on the drug experienced an irregular heartbeat.
Reclast is now under review by the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, it could be on the market by next year.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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