Do pain relievers impede bone drug’s efficacy?

New research published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research suggests that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are taken to reduce pain may block the beneficial effects of bone-protective drugs called bisphosphonates. 

In the study of 5,212 community-dwelling women aged 75 years and older, the use of NSAIDs did not seem to have a direct impact on individuals’ bone fracture risk, but the medications appeared to negate the bone-protective effects of the oral bisphosphonate, clodronate, on preventing osteoporotic fractures. 

“We need to exercise some caution in extrapolating these data to more widely used bisphosphonates in osteoporosis, but given that concomitant usage of NSAIDs and bisphosphonates is relatively common, this could have major clinical consequences and result in a failure to reduce fracture risk as much as we had hoped,” said senior author Eugene McCloskey, MD, of Northern General Hospital, in the UK.

URL Upon Publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.4548

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About the Journal

The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR) publishes highly impactful original manuscripts, reviews, and special articles on basic, translational and clinical investigations relevant to the musculoskeletal system and mineral metabolism. Specifically, the journal is interested in original research on the biology and physiology of skeletal tissues, interdisciplinary research spanning the musculoskeletal and other systems, including but not limited to immunology, hematology, energy metabolism, cancer biology, and neurology, and systems biology topics using large scale “-omics” approaches. The journal welcomes clinical research on the pathophysiology, treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and fractures, as well as sarcopenia, disorders of bone and mineral metabolism, and rare or genetically determined bone diseases.  

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