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Treadmill Talks: FDA Releases Health Warnings on Osteoporosis Medications

Treadmill Talks: FDA Releases Health Warnings on Osteoporosis Medications (1:07)

The FDA releases a warning to people who take bone drugs like Boniva and Fosamax. In this Treadmill Talk, Sharecare expert Dr. Michael Roizen explains why taking osteoporosis medication for a long period of time may not give you the results you want.

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The FDA is out with new warnings this week about bone drugs. Bone drugs are called this biphosphonates they are a couple that you all know, Fosamax and if you will Boniva that's another common one, and those people take for years. What the FDA warning was that if you take it for more than about four years, you won't get any benefit you'll just get some more risks.

The key is and you know this if you're of the age that gets bone mineral density testing, your T-score, if your T-score is greater in a negative direction than -2.5 that means you got really thin bones then you continue to get benefits from the biphosphonates after 4 years if only you have a little bit of osteopenia, then those drugs seem not to have any benefit after four years.