Women's Bone Health May Be Improved With Inexpensive Nitroglycerin Cream
Nitrates commonly used for chest pain may also be an inexpensive way to strengthen bone in older women, a Canadian study suggests.
Nitroglycerin cream applied daily to the upper arms for two years increased bone density about 7 percent in a study of 243 postmenopausal women released today by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Headaches were reported by 35 percent of women in the first month of treatment and decreased over time. Serious side effects were similar in the study group that received a placebo.
An aging population has increased demand for drugs to prevent costly hip and spine fractures caused by weak bones. These findings raise the possibility that generic nitroglycerin may be an affordable alternative to brand-name osteoporosis medicines led by Roche Holding AG’s Boniva, Novartis AG’s Reclast, Warner Chilcott Plc’s Actonel and Amgen Inc.’s Prolia.
“The efficacy of nitrates for reducing risk of fracture should be tested in a larger randomized controlled trial,” wrote study author Sophie A. Jamal, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, and her colleagues.
Boniva brought in sales of 1.01 billion Swiss francs ($975 million) last year for Basel, Switzerland-based Roche. Novartis, also of Basel, had sales of $579 million from Reclast. Actonel sales were $222 million for Ardee, Ireland, based Warner Chilcott. Prolia, approved June 1, brought in $33 million for Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, California.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Larkin in Washington at clarkin4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adriel Bettelheim at abettelheim@bloomberg.net.
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