Vertebral fracture risk is reduced in women who lose femoral neck BMD with teriparatide treatment

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Teriparatide.

Response to osteoporosis therapy is often assessed by serial BMD testing.

Patients who lose BMD without secondary causes of bone loss may be considered to be "nonresponders" to treatment.

Who Took Part

The study group was 12 women.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Teriparatide and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Blinding on both sides kept the women and researchers unaware of who received Teriparatide.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Teriparatide could be set against what happens without it.

FN and LS BMD were measured at baseline and 12 mo.

VFs were assessed by lateral spine radiographs at baseline and study endpoint.

What Was Measured

Response to osteoporosis therapy is often assessed by serial BMD testing.

Patients who lose BMD without secondary causes of bone loss may be considered to be "nonresponders" to treatment.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Bone Density, Bone Remodeling, Collagen Type I, Femur Neck, Risk Factors, Spinal Fractures and Teriparatide.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Teriparatide in 12 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2009 (Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research), a journal based in England.

More context: the Teriparatide compound page, all human trials.