I'm taking a drug called Fosamax for my osteoporosis. The doctor thinks it might help keep my total hip replacement from getting loose. How does it work?
Fosamax is one of several drugs in a general group of medications known as bisphosphonates. Bisphosponates are manmade or synthetic chemicals. They keep the bone destroying cells called osteoclasts from absorbing bone.
The exact steps in the bone forming pathway by which fosamax or other bisphosphonates work is unclear. In part, they inhibit a key enzyme in the osteoclasts and cause death of the osteoclast cells. Once the osteoclasts are stopped or inactivated, then less bone is destroyed leaving a positive bone balance.
Patients with total joint replacements can suffer failure of the implant when bone destruction causes loosening. Studies show that bisphosponates are absorbed by the bone mineral in areas where the bone has been drilled and reamed for a joint implant. Even though it's a systemic drug, it appears to have local effects.
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