Non-pharmacological options may have role in postmenopausal osteoporosis

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7422.1051

BMJ 2003;327:1051 (1 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7422.1051

Letter

Non-pharmacological options may have role in postmenopausal osteoporosis

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Cranney's editorial thoroughly covered the pharmacologicaloptions available for treating postmenopausal osteoporosis.¹Non-pharmacological treatments may also have a role, given theuncertainties in managing osteoporosis.

Exercise is a simple intervention that can be advised for postmenopausalwomen with osteoporosis and is beneficial for other health issuesas well. Several systematic reviews have shown an increase inbone mineral density.²

Another key issue is the need to decrease the risk of falling.Systematic reviews show the effectiveness of measures to preventfalls, and evidence shows that some available interventionsare likely to be effective.³

In the last update of a review about hip protectors the initialbeneficial effect observed was not confirmed from studies usingindividual randomisation.⁴ Another issue is that most trialstargeted people at particularly high risk of fracture.

Head to head comparisons are required, however, and not justamong pharmacological options. Results from the women's health. . . [Full text of this article]

Pablo Alonso-Coello, research fellow

Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, C/Sant Antoni Ma Claret, 171, E-08041 Barcelona, Spain

Merc Marzo-Castillejo, medical adviser

Mmarzo@ics.scs.es Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, C/Sant Antoni Ma Claret, 171, E-08041 Barcelona, Spain