[Osteoporosis: basics and pitfalls]

Osteoporosis belongs to the ten most common diseases. There is no doubt about the importance of primary prophylaxis. Regarding postmenopausal women the following subjects will be discussed: How can the fracture risk be evaluated? What kind of pharmacotherapy is available? An osteodensitometry will be performed if risk factors are present. Most of the laboratory testing can be done in a primary care unit to exclude secondary forms of osteoporosis. Guidelines concerning the decision to start a therapy are based on the individual risk profile and on the osteodensitometric score. The pharmacotherapy with bisphosphonates, selective estrogen receptor modulators and parathormone will be discussed. Strontiumranelate is a very promising medicine and will soon be available in Switzerland.