Strontium ranelate, a new oral medication on the horizon, may reduce spinal, non-spinal, hip and other fractures in older women with osteoporosis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
In a large phase III program, post-menopausal women were randomly assigned strontium ranelate or a placebo, along with calcium and vitamin-D supplements for three years. The phase III testing was broken down into two multi-national, double blind controlled studies. One focused on the possible reduction of fractures of the spine in nearly 1,650 women, average age 69; the other studied non-spinal fractures in more than 5,000 women, average age 76. All women studied had low bone density.
In both studies, participants experienced a significant reduction in fracture risk. Over the three-year period, 36 percent fewer women 74 years of age or older suffered hip fractures. Concurrently, spinal and non-spinal fractures were reduced by 32 percent and 31 percent, respectively, in the subgroup of elderly women, ages 80 and older. Strontium ranelate appeared to both increase bone formation and decrease bone density loss in the majority of patients, demonstrating a good bone and general safety response.
Osteoporosis weakens bones, leaving them subject to fracture, primarily in those over the age of 50 and in one out of every two women. In the U.S. alone, some eight million women and two million men run the risk of fracture leading to chronic pain, long-term disability and even death from this silent disease. Based on the present data, strontium ranelate may become a potential treatment option for those patients with osteoporosis and at high risk for spinal and non-spinal fractures.