ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study reveals the osteoporosis drug raloxifene (Evista) can safe and effectively increase bone mineral density in women with chronic kidney disease (CKD) -- a group often excluded from osteoporosis drug studies.

For women with CKD, it is essential to monitor bone mineral density and administer treatment when levels are low. “There are lots of metabolic abnormalities associated with chronic kidney disease and it’s thought that a lot of these accelerate bone loss,” Areef Ishani, M.D., an investigator at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Ivanhoe. “They don’t have as much activated Vitamin D, their parathyroid hormones tend to be more elevated, their sex hormones are lower,” he explained.
 

According to experts, treating women with CKD with osteoporosis drugs has been controversial due to the previously unknown effects of medications, but a new study is providing hope. The placebo-controlled trial examined the effects of raloxifene over three years on 7,705 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. “The prevalence of CKD in our study population was about 52 percent, which is likely similar to the prevalence in community dwelling postmenopausal women,” Dr. Ishani said.

Researchers found that regardless of kidney function, raloxifene increased spine bone mineral density and reduced vertebral fractures when compared to women who took the placebo. The drug also increased hip bone mineral density, especially in women with mild to moderate CKD. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, a debilitating disease that causes millions of hip, wrist, pelvic, and other bone fractures each year.

SOURCE: Interview with Areef Ishani, M.D., The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, published online April 9, 2008