Abstract

Osteoporosis is one of the most important public health problems facing the aging population. Drug therapy for osteoporosis can be divided operationally into two main categories: drugs that inhibit bone resorption, and thus reduce bone turnover, and those that stimulate bone formation, exerting an anabolic effect. Antiresorptive agents such as estrogens, calcitonin, and bisphosphonates are most effective in the prevention of osteoporosis. Formation-stimulating agents such as sodium fluoride or monofluorophosphate, parathyroid hormone fragments, and anabolic steroids are of potential value in the treatment of established osteoporosis, where bone mass s already low and benefit from antiresorptive drug is likelyto be small. Recently, raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, has become available in various countries for clinical use in the treatment of involutional osteoporsis . This paper will review the use of these drugs in postmenopausal woman.

• Keywords: Osteoporosis;Antiresorptive agents;Formation-stimulating agents;