Bisphosphonate
Pharmaceutical drugs for preventing bone loss / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs that prevent the loss of bone density, used to treat osteoporosis and similar diseases. They are the most commonly prescribed drugs used to treat osteoporosis.[1] They are called bisphosphonates because they have two phosphonate (PO(OH)
2) groups. They are thus also called diphosphonates (bis- or di- + phosphonate).
Evidence shows that they reduce the risk of fracture in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis.[2][3][4][5][6]
Bone tissue undergoes constant remodeling and is kept in balance (homeostasis) by osteoblasts creating bone and osteoclasts destroying bone. Bisphosphonates inhibit the digestion of bone by encouraging osteoclasts to undergo apoptosis, or cell death, thereby slowing bone loss.[7]
The uses of bisphosphonates include the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, Paget's disease of bone, bone metastasis (with or without hypercalcemia), multiple myeloma, primary hyperparathyroidism, osteogenesis imperfecta, fibrous dysplasia, and other conditions that exhibit bone fragility.