Teens Recover After Bone Loss From Depo-Provera
Reported February 9, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Several reports linked the contraceptive Depo-Provera to bone loss, but a new study shows teenagers’ bone density recovers after they stop using the drug.
Researchers from Group Health Cooperative’s Center for Health Studies in Seattle studied 80 girls between ages 14 and 18 who used Depo-Provera. They were compared to 90 similar girls not using the drug. Bone density measurements were taken at the start of the study and at six-month intervals over a period of two to three years.
While researchers found the drug was, in fact, associated with continuous bone-density loss at the hip and spine, they also found girls gained bone back after they stopped using the drug.
In 2002, researchers found similar results among women aged 18 to 39. However, the teenagers were found to regain bone density more quickly than the older women.
These new findings come less than three months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black box warning on Depo-Provera. The warning states the drug is associated with bone loss that may not be completely reversible.
More teens than older women use Depo-Provera. Of teenage girls between ages 15 and 19 who use birth control, about 10 percent use Depo-Provera. Only about 3 percent of older women on birth control use Depo-Provera. Researchers say the drug is effective, relatively low in cost, and easy-to-use.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 2005;159:139-144
