Additive effect of elcatonin to risedronate for chronic back pain and quality of life in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: a randomized controlled trial

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Calcitonin in the context of chronic pain: fibromyalgia & crps.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of combining elcatonin (eel calcitonin) with risedronate for patients with chronic back pain.

Why It Was Studied

The additive effect of calcitonin with a bisphosphonate on chronic back pain remains unclear.

Forty-five postmenopausal women diagnosed as having osteoporosis with chronic back pain persisting for more than 3 months, after excluding women with fresh vertebral fractures within the last 6 months, were randomly allocated to a risedronate group (risedronate alone, n = 22) and a combined group (risedronate and elcatonin, n = 23).

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Calcitonin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Pain was evaluated with a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Roland-Morris questionnaire (RDQ).

What Was Measured

Back extensor strength, bone mineral density, and quality of life on the SF-36 and the Japanese osteoporosis quality of life score were also evaluated.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Back Pain, Bone Density, Bone Density Conservation Agents, Calcitonin, Chronic Pain, Japan and Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Calcitonin in people with chronic pain: fibromyalgia & crps.

The publication is from 2015 (Journal of bone and mineral metabolism), a journal based in Japan.

More context: the Calcitonin compound page, Chronic pain: fibromyalgia & CRPS research.