Once-Weekly Injection of Low-Dose Teriparatide ([amount hidden]) Reduced the Risk of Vertebral Fracture in Patients with Primary Osteoporosis

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Teriparatide, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Individuals enrolled in this study included patients with primary osteoporosis with one to five vertebral fractures and capable of self-supported walking.

Attention was focused on incident vertebral fractures, change in bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine, and safety.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 316 subjects taking part.

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

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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

As a double-blind Teriparatide study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

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

The methods mention a period of 131 weeks.

What Was Measured

Individuals enrolled in this study included patients with primary osteoporosis with one to five vertebral fractures and capable of self-supported walking.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Bone Density, Bone Density Conservation Agents, Injections, Lumbar Vertebrae, Osteoporosis, Osteoporotic Fractures and Risk Factors.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Teriparatide in 316 subjects over 131 weeks.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The publication is from 2014 (Calcified tissue international), a journal based in United States.

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