my wife has recently discovered that fosamax, zometa, and any biphophonates used for osteoporosis or bone cancer can cause spontaneous osteonecrosis(jaw bone death).
this osteonecrosis can increase significantly with dental extraction and periodontal disease.
this will be merck's last drug before going bankrupt, because this will a hugh case against Merck. Sell your merck drug stock
this is very very serious and cause you to loose your entire jaw. this is real and not a joke Merck did not disclose this problem even though they new about it years ago.
I heard about this reaction about the same time my wife was given the stuff...
She did'nt use it long......
Wonder if Sally Fields knows about the stuff??
Merk should put more money into research and clinical trials than commercials depicting the Merk "family" as putting patients first....
Drug company propaganda! I guess they think we're alllll stupid.....sheesh!
zman
Posted by GiGi (Member # 259) on :
Never took a Fosomax, yet I suffered jawbone death upper and lower from amalgam fillings and the root canals. And the dentists doing this have been made aware for decades of the problems brought on by that kind of dental work. My loss is not and never was a joke to me either.
No dentist ever disclosed to me the possible damage until it was too late. Did you disclose this information to your patients?
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
I read that osteonecrosis can be caused by hypercoagulation.
Many Lyme patients have hypercoagulation.
Wonder if there's any relationship there.
Carol
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
Fosomax is baaaad stuff. You are much better off with a good progesterone cream. Fosomax just holds on to the old dead bone cells, but progesterone removes dead cells making way for newer stronger cells.
Posted by stymielymie (Member # 10044) on :
gigi i didn't do root canals or amalgams in my practice. i was very progressive for the time. was doing composites for 23 year. my patients were imformed and signed cosent forms for all procedures. yes gigi is was one of the good dentists. i was never sued in 23 years of practice.
yes fosamax works by killing osteoclast which remove old dieased bone. this is why fosamax works. it keeps the osteoclasts buiding new bone but not removing the old bone.
very scary drug.
Posted by Truthfinder (Member # 8512) on :
Wow, Doc, good to know. (And thanks for breaking up your post.)
According to some studies that I read a couple of years ago, the BEST, most EFFECTIVE way to build bone and keep it is by CONTROLLING body pH. This works better and faster than any hormones or osteoporosis drugs.
Here are the most popular osteoporosis meds. Note the ``drug class'' of each. (I believe Forteo is prescribed only if your osteoporosis is thought to be caused by parathyroid malfunction.)
Actonel (Risedronate Sodium) Drug family - Bisphosphonate
Boniva (ibandronate sodium) Drug family - Bisphosphonate
Didronel (Etidronate Disodium) Drug family - Diphosphonate
Evista (Raloxifene HCL;) Drug family - Selective estrogen receptor modulator
Forteo (teriparatide) synthetic form of parathyroid hormone
Fosamax (Alendronate) Drug family - Aminobisphosphonate
Miacalcin (Calcitonin) Drug family - synthetic calcitonin
(There are other bisphosphonates like Aredia and Zometa which are used primarily in the treatment of cancers. There are still others used in the treatment of Paget's disease of bone.)
Interesting thought, Carol........
Tracy
Posted by SayYesh (Member # 8343) on :
I need some more education.
GiGi: "... suffered jawbone death upper and lower from amalgam fillings and the root canals. "
Yikes! I never heard of this. What is an amalgam filling - one that has Mercury in it?
Are composites the ones made from plastic?
I need to pay more attention to this. The last time I went to the dentist, he said "you need some work done." I thought I had cavities. But no, he ripped out the old work from 2 teeth (amalgams?) and re-filled w/ plastics (composites?). Kind of spooked me.
Thanks, Kelly
Posted by stymielymie (Member # 10044) on :
this is true of all biphosphanates not just fosamax, fosamax has the lowest risk. my wife was taking fosamax and 4 times a year zometa, so her risk is higher
from the study the highest risks are zometa acotonel, and boniva. these are used many for multiple myloma and bone cancer.
there was a new protocol stared 4 years ago for post breast cancer patients with osteo porosis from post treatment drugs,tamoxophin arimadex.these both cause osteoporosis, and at the present time are the drugs of choice post breast cancer surgery. the new protocol,which my wife was involved at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philly was fosamax and Zometa IV 4 times a year. her last bone scan was excellent, no osteoporosis ,which she did have prior to taking fosamax and zometa.
this osteonecrosis is very rare spontaneously and Dr. H saw 1 patient that got it with a piece of popcorn stuck in the gums
the main cause is dental extractions and gum diease. the reason this is so, is because bone is always remodeling, osteoblasts growing bone and osteoclast removing diseased bone. the biposphonates work by preventing osteoclasts from removing bad bone. this results in a area of incresed bone production with no removal of diseased tissue.
the body develops an infection and the bone dies and can not be rebuilt. the effect of these drugs is cumulative of dosage, and the effect on osteoclasts never goes away, as of now.
this occurs only in the mouth because it is the only area of the body that has bone exposed to bacteria. other bones of the body are sterile.
i would guess or postulate or interperate the data from the study to be very bad news, why???
there are no studies on this but i believe this study will come out very soon. people having bone surgery, ie knee replacement, will have a good chance to also get osteonecrosis of the area that is surgerized. why??
because expose during surgery,no matter how sterile, will open the area up to bacteria and possible infection. infection in bone with biphosphonates as above produces osteonecrosis.
were talking major lawsuit if this occurs and a think it will, its only time. most orthopedists have no idea this is occuring. premed with abx will certainly decrease the odds, but who wants a knee replacemnet that fails?????
so merck new about this problem but still refuses to put the warning on the drug even after fda told them to do so.
i would think about getting off any of these drugs as soon as possible and do stress bearing exercises instead.
this is the original research study done in Miami, but if was noted by Dr. H in Boca the oral surgeon my wife just went to. he sent the patients to Dr. Marx
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