11 Jul Fewer Fractures With Fosamax (Alendronate) For Patients on Steroids
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Lorentzon
Mattias Lorentzon, PhD
Professor, Senior Physician
Head of Geriatric Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy
Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal
Mölndal, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: It was previously known that alendronate reduces the risk of vertebral fractures in patients using oral glucocorticoids, but there were no studies regarding hip fractures, which are the most severe osteoporotic fractures, often resulting in disability and mortality.
We found that older patients prescribed alendronate after starting medium to high doses of oral prednisolone had a much lower risk of hip fracture than patients not taking alendronate.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Response: We believe that our study supports the use of alendronate treatment in older patients taking oral prednisolone in medium to high doses.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: We hope that our study will contribute to that more older patients will be offered alendronate after starting prednisolone treatment, in order to reduce their fracture risk. Our disclosures are summarized in the JAMA article.
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
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| Hi,
My colleague (Sandra McLean) forwarded your email to me. I did not receive the original message for some reason. I have responded to your questions below.
Heart Failure and MEF2 Transcriptome Dynamics in Response to β-Blockers
Beta blockers reverse potentially harmful genetic changes associated with heart disease Beta blockers are commonly used world-wide to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions, such as arrhythmias and heart failure. Scientists have known for decades that the medications work by slowing the heart rate and reducing the force of contraction – lessening the burden of work carried out by the heart. In recent work we have observed that these drugs also reverse a number of potentially detrimental genetic changes associated with heart disease. Using an experimental model of heart failure and next generation sequencing to get a snapshot of all of the RNA in the heart cells, this work has identified the global gene expression changes that occur in heart failure. In addition we also determined what happened to this pattern of gene expression when beta blocker treatment was implemented. We discovered that beta blockers largely reverse the pathological pattern of gene expression observed in heart failure. This could mean that the reversal or suppression of pathological gene expression by beta blockers is somehow protective against heart failure, but it’s something we would need to look into further to understand how the individual genes function in the human heart. The study, “Heart Failure and MEF2 Transcriptome Dynamics in Response to B-Blockers,” was published today in Nature Scientific Reports. The interview would be in a short written format, with a link to the home page of MedicalResearch.com. Suggested questions include: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Is there anything else you would like to add? Any disclosures?
— John C. McDermott PhD Professor and McLaughlin Research Chair Department of Biology Faculty of Science 427b Life Sciences Building York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto, Ontario M3J1P3 Canada |
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Last Updated on July 11, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD