Abaloparatide Injections Found to Reduce Risk of Fractures Among Osteoporotic Women

Highlights

• Post menopausal women with osteoporosis have an increased risk for fractures.
• Injecting the drug Abaloparatide lowers risk for fracture.
• Abaloparatide has also been found to improve bone mineral density.

Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones become weak and the individual is at high risk for hip fractures. There are no symptoms associated with osteoporosis till the individual breaks a bone, which is why it is called a silent disease.

The risk factors associated with osteoporosis include:

• Small and thin frame
• Older women
• Low bone density or osteopenia
• Post menopausal women

Facts about osteoporosis are:

• One in two women suffer from osteoporosis
• One in four men suffer from osteoporosis
• The lifetime risk of fractures for a women of age 60 is 44%
• 54 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis
• The medical costs incurred due to osteoporosis is 34 million dollars in the U.S

Bone Fractures among Osteoporotic Men and Women

Bone fractures can be very painful as it requires hospitalization and additional care that would generally affect the quality of life of senior citizens. Fractures that are caused due to osteoporosis could occur without any excessive physical injury, even minor falls could lead to a fracture.

Older people are often left worrying about fractures and activities that involve a fair amount of physical exertion. This stresses the need to find a preventive mechanism that safeguard older adults from the risk of fractures.

Effect of Abaloparatide on Lowering Fracture Risk among Osteoporotic Women

Dr Paul and colleagues from the Colorado Center for Bone Research tested 2 different drugs and a placebo on randomly selected women with osteoporosis. There were 3 groups of study participants

• 824 women with osteoporosis received injections of Abaloparatide
• 818 women with osteoporosis received injections of Teriparatide
• 821 women with osteoporosis received injections of Placebo

The study was conducted across 10 countries and 28 sites with injections administered for 18 months. 2463 participated with an average age of 69 years were included in the study and 1901 women completed the study.

New vertebral fractures were seen in

• 0.58% in the Abaloparatide group.
• 0.84% in the Teriparatide group.
• 4.22% in the Placebo group.

Fractures other than vertebra like hip or other bones that was estimated were

• 2.7% in the Abaloparatide group.
• 3.3% in the Teriparatide group.
• 4.7% in the Placebo group.

Other benefits of using Abaloparatide were -

• Bone mineral density was found to increase when compared with placebo
• The incidence of hypercalcemia was lower in abaloparatide group than in teriparatide group.

The use of abaloparatide shows a lot of promise in lowering the risk of fractures among women with osteoporosis. However, the authors include a note of caution, "Further research is needed to understand the clinical importance of risk difference, the risks and benefits of abaloparatide treatment, and the efficacy of abaloparatide vs other osteoporosis treatments."

References :

1. Osteoporosis - (https://medlineplus.gov/osteoporosis.html)
2. What is Osteoporosis and What Causes It? - (https://www.nof.org/patients/what-is-osteoporosis/)
3. Injected drug reduces risk of fracture among women with osteoporosis - (http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2016-08/tjnj- idr081216.php)

Source: Medindia