Daily Oral Alendronate Increases BMD Better Than Intranasal Calcitonin.

WASHINGTON -- Daily oral alendronate is more effective than daily intranasal calcitonin among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, Dr. Clifford J. Rosen said at an international symposium on women's health and menopause.

Alendronate (Fosamax), a bisphosphonate that inhibits bone resorption, has been shown to increase bone mineral density and reduce fractures in osteoporosis patients. Calcitonin, a polypeptide, is thought to augment bone formation by increasing osteoblast activity, he said.

The two agents were directly compared in a 2-year, multi-center study involving 275 women with osteoporosis. "No prior study has compared therapeutic doses of alendronate and calcitonin in a parallel design," said Dr. Rosen, director of the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor.

This study was supported in part by Merck & Co. Inc., West Point, Pa., maker of Fosamax.

The study subjects were women aged 45 years and older who had been postmenopausal for at least 5 years and younger women who had undergone surgical menopause at least 5 years previously.

During the first year of the study, the subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 10 mg of oral ...