Are there side effects related to drugs used to treat osteoporosis?

Are there side effects related to drugs used to treat osteoporosis?

Frederick Singer (Director of the Endocrine/Bone Disease Program, John Wayne Cancer Institute ) gives expert video advice on: Are there side effects related to drugs used to treat osteoporosis? and more...

Well, like any group of medications there may be side effects in osteoporosis treatment. We could start with estrogen. Estrogen, in some people, causes some nausea. That's not a prominent symptom. More important might be the development of a blood clot, and, of course, the worst would be breast cancer. This occurs in a small but significant percentage of women. If we go on to the bisphosphonate drugs, which are now more commonly used than estrogen, these drugs taken orally can cause upset stomach or heartburn. Fortunately, that's like five- or maybe ten-percent of people at the most. So, there isn't much in the way of side effects from those drugs. Raloxifene is a relative of estrogen which is sometimes used. That can cause more hot flashes than you started with, and it might also cause a small incidence of blood clots.