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Osteoporosis and Fracture Risk Prevention in Long-term Glucocorticoid Therapy
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With great interest, we read the article on long-term corticosteroid
therapy by Naganathan et al,1 who reported
an increased risk of vertebral deformity associated with the combination of
increased age and glucocorticoid use. Osteoporosis and fractures are a major
concern in patients receiving long-term glucocorticoid treatment ( 3 months).
To estimate which proportion of our patients were receiving osteoporosis prevention
during long-term glucocorticoid therapy, we randomly selected the charts of
51 patients who continuously received steroids for at least 3 months (between
February 1997 and July 1999). The patients were either inpatients or outpatients
(seen in the clinics or in the emergency department) who received steroids
either orally or by injection. Any preventive measure (ranging from simple
calcium supplementation to hormone replacement therapy) was qualified as "receiving
some osteoporosis prevention," as opposed to receiving "no osteoporosis prevention
whatsoever." Of the 51 patients in this retrospective study, 35 (68%) were
female . . . [Full Text of this Article]
RELATED ARTICLE
Vertebral Fracture Risk With Long-term Corticosteroid Therapy: Prevalence and Relation to Age, Bone Density, and Corticosteroid Use
Vasi Naganathan, Graeme Jones, Peter Nash, Geoff Nicholson, John Eisman, and Philip N. Sambrook
Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(19):2917-2922.
ABSTRACT
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