[Treatment of osteoporosis]

Osteoporosis is among the most frequent metabolic diseases affecting 8% to 10% of the population. Since the most disturbing outcome of osteoporosis is a fracture, it is important to identify patients at risk and intervene with pharmacologic therapies and lifestyle changes. Several drugs have shown their ability to reduce vertebral and/or peripheral fractures in patients with osteoporosis. Antiresorptive agents are a basis of therapy, but anabolic drugs have recently widened therapeutic options. Antiresorptive medications, estrogens, selective estrogen receptor modulators, bisphosphonates and calcitonins, work by reducing the rates of bone remodeling. Parathyroid hormone stimulates new bone formation, repairing architectural defects and improving bone density. Strontium ranelate reduces the risk for osteoporotic fractures by both inhibiting bone resorption and increasing bone formation. Other potential therapies for osteoporosis are also reviewed in this article.