5 medications that can cause bone thinning - and what to do if you’re on one

Résumé détaillé

If you take any of these medications, it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider about what you can do to stay on top of your bone health. You may know that your bones…

A handful of commonly prescribed medicines may decrease bone density and make fractures more likely. Photo / 123rf

If you take any of these medications, it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider about what you can do to stay on top of your bone health.

You may know that your bones can get less dense with age, after menopause or when you don’t do enough weight-bearing exercises or resistance training. What might not be so apparent is how the medications you take – for unrelated health conditions – might negatively impact your bone health.

A handful of commonly prescribed drugs used to treat everything from asthma attacks to breast and prostate cancer may decrease bone density and make fractures more likely. Being aware of these risks can give you the knowledge you need to advocate for your health and come up with a plan to prevent or minimise damage.

“Knowledge is power,” Natasha Trentacosta, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, said. “When we understand the skeletal consequences of a necessary medication, we can take meaningful steps to protect bone health while continuing potentially lifesaving therapy.”

Below, she and other bone health experts explain what you need to know about five of these drugs.

Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, are used to reduce inflammation in the body. They’re commonly prescribed for a wide range of conditions, including lupus and other autoimmune diseases, asthma, rashes, severe allergies and musculoskeletal conditions such as tendinitis. They work by tamping down the body’s immune response.

These medications can impact bone health in a few different ways. They increase the activity of osteoclasts, which are cells that chew up bone and can interfere with calcium absorption, Naim Maalouf, associate director of the Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, said.

Additionally, “they suppress the activity of osteoblasts, the cells…

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