Current treatment options for osteoporosis.

The goals of treatment for patients with osteoporosis are to maintain normal bone and to prevent the deterioration of normal bone to osteoporotic bone. Achievement of these goals, combined with a successful approach to prevention of falls, may substantially decrease the incidence and risk of fractures. Strategies for osteoporosis therapy include patient strategies (e.g., administration of calcium, exercise), drug therapy to stimulate bone formation (e.g., fluoride, anabolic steroids), and drugs to inhibit bone resorption (e.g., estrogen replacement therapy, calcitonin, bisphosphonates).