Clinical management of postmenopausal osteoporosis

Today, 24 million Americans are at risk for osteoporosis. Of the 2 million fractures that occur each year in the United States, approximately 1.3 million are directly due to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, a preventable and treatable condition, takes on great importance because of the enormous impact these fractures can have on mortality, health care costs, patient productivity, independence, and self-esteem. Advances in diagnostic techniques and improved understanding of risk factors allow clinicians greater acumen in the classification and diagnosis of osteoporosis. Today, FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis includes calcium and vitamin D supplementation, estrogen and progesterone, and calcitonin-salmon. This article presents a review of the current understanding of each of these as well as experimental forms of therapy.