Swiss organization offers advice on osteoporosis treatment

Individuals who buy Evista or buy Fosamax from outlets such as Canadian and international online pharmacies may still suffer a fracture. However, people with thinning bones and their doctors might want to consult a set of guidelines from the International Osteoporosis Foundation before deciding if they should discontinue drug therapy.

"Although patient and physician may view [fracture] as a sign of treatment failure, this is not always the case. The objective of the current practical guidance was to provide a clinical pathway whereby physicians can ascertain whether a patient has failed to respond adequately to an anti-osteoporosis treatment. As a result, doctors will be able to define treatment failure more effectively, and take appropriate action," said Professor Cyrus Cooper of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisers.

According to the Swiss nonprofit, known drugs for osteoporosis are 70 percent likely to prevent vertebral fracture, improve the probability of avoiding hip fracture by 50 percent, and show a 20 percent rate of effectiveness against stopping non-vertebral fractures.

The National Institutes of Health has explained that osteoporosis, the most common of all bone diseases, is most often the result of a decrease in estrogen in women while they're going through menopause. Possible other contributing causes include being bed ridden, rheumatoid arthritis, certain medications and insufficient amounts of vitamin D.