Therapy for osteoporosis. Miscellaneous and experimental agents.

None of the currently available medications for osteoporosis have demonstrated an ability to fully prevent the occurrence of new vertebral or peripheral osteoporotic fractures once the disease is established. Several new therapies, therefore, are currently being developed to optimize the risk/benefit ratio of osteoporosis treatment. This article discusses a number of treatments currently being considered, including anabolic steroids, growth hormone or insulin-like growth factors, ipriflavone, parathyroid peptides, and strontium. Several other compounds have been suggested recently for treatment of osteoporosis and other are at very early stages of their development. In addition to pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of osteoporosis, hip protectors also may reduce hip fractures.