Barb73
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Posts posted by Barb73
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Dear All,
This has been so interesting, and really good suggestions.
I love this place!
(It's where I need to be and am feeling the support.)
Love to all of you guys. You are great.
The "MY STORY" section will be my next stop. For today, it's infusion day, so pretty much filled in for "things to do."
Thanks again.
Barbara
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This morning, Sunday, March 31, 2008, I edited all the extra signatures on each of Bill's profiles. It only took a "click" of the signature button on each.
I realized when scrolling down, that all of Bill's profiles weren't needed on each and every post in an ongoing "conversation."
This should make it easier for newcomers who arrive and wish to follow the conversation line. There won't be so much time spent scrolling my replies.
I am learning.
Barbara
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Connie,
Thank you for the information about the staging. and where to find it. That is extremely helpful.
Just moving around this site, I can see that there are so many areas of expertise. It's truly a gold mine.
This is a comfort to a re-"newbie"
like me.Barbara
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Hello Lisa I am so happy to see you Lisa.
This board has wonderful people. They, too understand our journey with lung cancer.
They are very special in their replies and caring, as you will discover.
As to how this site works: The menu on the home page on the left has categories. The one I usually hit immediately is the "message board."
After that takes you to the next page, there are many choices, NSCLC, General, SCLC, Family Members/Caregivers, etc., to name a few.
Just reading the posts will give you an idea of the way to reply (the little quote button in upper right corner of posting window). It will all come to you, Lisa. If I didn't explain well enough message me, and I'll be there.
Thank you so much for the caring for Bill and me. I am feeling the good wishes.
This morning April 2, 2008, I edited the correct place for the location of the quote button. (Had said upper left corner when it is actually the UPPER RIGHT corner.
Love,
Barbara
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Randy,
Last summer, Bill and I had a little "honey-colored" bunny come into our side yard, and looked toward our dining room picture window.
We had seen this little guy before, and always worried about him. Fall arrived, and winter passed, and this spring (only last week), he appeared once again.
Bill and I peeked at this little "sign of spring" through our venetian blinds, and both of us took it as a sign (of something beautiful).
Right now, as I read your posting, I am crying. I don't even know why.
Barbara
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All I have ever heard concerning any diagnoses of lung cancer regarding chemotherapy, is that NSCLC Stage IA does not require chemotherapy, nor is any chemotherapy advised.
However, Stage IB is in the mix for chemotherapy - depending.
After that, I think if I were that person (your neighbor's sister) I would seek a second opinion from a reliable source regarding this.
My only credentials are that I have been reading medical news for three plus years.
I know, that is not a diploma, but still, if I were your neighbor's sister I would head for a second opinion forthwith.
Barbara
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Hello Michele,
Glad "meet" you and that you have joined us in posting.
Please, let us know how you and your mother are doing. We will be looking forward to your visits.
Barbara
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Yes, Randy, I forgot to put each link into each article. Didn't see the edit button after having sent them.
Just saw where the edit button is up there on the right. I'll put them in to each post.The links are in my files.
Thank you for letting me know.
Barbara
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Randy,
Thank you for your words. You are very kind.
When I posted this morning, I completely forgot to put the links in to each item. I discovered it later when I rechecked, and didn't know how to edit once it was completed.
I will do better next time.
Barbara
"RandyW"]thank you for sharing this info. I amsure amny more will be responding soon. Again THanks Much
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/101941.php
March 28, 2008
Becky Sasaki has the quick laugh and easy smile of a woman who continues to thrive despite her four-year wrestling match with lung cancer. She still works every day in the family business, heads out for Thai food with her husband and baby sits for her energetic grandchildren.
This winter when the cancer, which had metastasized, appeared in her brain for the third time, her oncologist prescribed a new breed of targeted cancer drugs to shrink the tumor. But before she could even fill the prescription, her doctor dispatched her to the Cancer Skin Care Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
The goal: save her skin so she can continue to enjoy her active life.
The targeted cancer drug she was about to take can have such disfiguring dermatologic side effects, some patients are embarrassed to be seen in public and hide at home. Others can't bear the extreme skin problems, such as severe acne, and toss their pills.
Mario Lacouture, M.D., founder and director of the pioneering Cancer Skin Care Program, waited patiently for Sasaki until 6:30 p.m., the soonest she could arrive from her appointment with the oncologist. Lacouture wanted to arm her with an arsenal of specially formulated lotions and drugs to head off potentially devastating skin problems. He launched the skin cancer program - the first in the country - about a year ago to parry the painful skin conditions caused by these drugs.
"We are trying to help people keep their dignity and quality of life," said Lacouture, an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and a dermatologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He often sees patients the same day they call for an appointment, an intentionally lightning-fast response. Generally, patients need to wait weeks or longer for an appointment with a dermatologist.
"These people don't have that luxury of time," explained Lacouture. "If the side effects become severe, they are taken off the anticancer medicines." He keeps half of his weekly schedule open so he is always available for urgent, last minute appointments. And the clinic phone number is actually a pager to a nurse coordinator, so cancer patients receive a swift return call.
When Lacouture met with Sasaki, he prescribed four specially formulated creams including sunscreen, a body moisturizing cream to ward off the severely dry and itchy "alligator" skin, a topical steroid ointment for her face and medicated shampoo. He also recommended an ophthalmologist for dry eyes -- another unpleasant side effect.
"This has made a huge difference," said Sasaki, 57, a Chicago resident. "I can't even imagine what I would look like at this point without these medications. You don't want to go out and get stared at."
As new skin problems erupt - like the recent painful, split skin on her fingers - Sasaki visits Lacouture for new potions.
Cancer patients' skin problems erupted in 2004 with the emergence of a powerful new class of chemotherapy agents. These agents attack specific proteins in cancer cells rather than the "spray gun approach" of conventional chemotherapy that "basically shoots at everything and kills all kinds of cells," Lacouture said. The new agents minimize the side effects of traditional chemotherapy so patients lose less hair and don't suffer from plummeting white blood cell counts, which leave them vulnerable to infections.
The new drugs work by destroying a protein called the EGFR, which naturally occurs in the skin, but also helps cancer cells thrive. In the top four deadliest cancers - lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic - cancer cells start churning out huge amounts of EGFR to feed themselves and self propagate. The drugs that attack EGFR are prescribed for patients - about 100,00 so far - whose cancer has not responded to conventional chemotherapy.
But EGFR, which the drugs so handily wipe out, also is critical for the normal function of skin. Thus, about 90 percent of patients who take it have skin problems so serious that they feel embarrassed by their appearance.
"They get a rash that looks like acne that covers their entire face and chest and back. And it's itchy and tender," said Lacouture. "Acne in a 15 year old is not surprising, but when you're talking about severe acne in a 50 year old, that's not normal. So friends and acquaintances ask them, 'Hey, what's wrong with your face?'
"So that person has to say, ' I have cancer.' Not everyone who has cancer likes to go out and tell everyone. And every time they look in the mirror they are reminded they have cancer. It heaps more misery on an already difficult situation."
Lacouture said most physicians are not yet aware of how to treat these dermatologic side effects. He receives e-mails with questions from patients as far away as Australia, Europe and South Africa.
Each patient responds differently to dermatological treatments. Lacouture is analyzing the outcomes of 150 of his patients to determine the most effective interventions for the acne rash. He also is testing the effectiveness of newer drugs against the acne rash in a new study.
The Northwestern University program is a unique collaboration between oncologists, dermatologists and ophthalmologists in which there is a seamless treatment of these patients. The clinic is now being modeled in other places around the country.
As for Becky Sasaki, she just hosted two of her grandchildren for a sleepover. "My skin looks good and my grandchildren still want to be near me. That means everything to me."
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Marla Paul
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.
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Hello and a warm welcome to you, Hidilynn,
I couldn't have chosen a place better than this. Its membership has knowledge, warmth, and support ("are there for you"). I think you will find it the same.
Having your friend in your life is a great blessing for both of you, raising two children is also and amazing feat.
All of our children are "forty-something."
Our grandchildren are your children's ages. They keep us current. 
So very glad you came here, albeit not for the reason.
Please continue posting about your journey so that we can get to know you better? We would love to see you here again.
Barbara
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When Bill was first diagnosed, the oncologist told us that he would be treating Bill's disease as a chronic.
I asked him. "What happens if it "pops up" somewhere else?" He said, "Then we get it where it's at."
I asked if there were any long-time survivors. He said, "They are out there, not in large numbers, but they are out there." He looked at Bill and said, "You may one day die of this."
From that moment on, our attitude has been to give it hell. We are in the business of LIVING with lung cancer.
Since no one knows what each person's response may be to various drugs/regimens, we cannot be apprised of the prognosis.
Without belaboring the point, my mother was a 22-year survivor of colon cancer, Stage IV, mets to liver (diagnosed at age 53/died at age 75).
She received surgery and no other treatment. They removed the main tumor, left in the mets, and we asked the doctor, "What is her prognosis?" He said, "I am not God."
He was right.
Barbara
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http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/conte ... ode=print&
Hairdressers and Barbers May Be At Increased Cancer Risk
Article date: 2008/03/26
Regular exposure to hair dyes, processing agents, and other chemicals used in hair salons and barbershops probably increases cancer risk, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization panel that maintains the world's most commonly-used system for classifying carcinogens. But there’s not enough evidence to say whether personal use of these products is linked to elevated risk, according to the report.
The IARC has labeled these occupations as "probably carcinogenic to humans," a classification the agency reserves for those exposures backed by fairly strong evidence. In 1993, the IARC found that hairdressers and barbers were probably exposed to cancer-causing substances, but at that time, evidence of an increased cancer risk in this population was
"inadequate." This week's report, published in the Lancet Oncology, is based on a review epidemiological studies published since that time.
Some of the products used by hairdressers and barbers--such as dyes, pigments, rubber chemicals, and curing agents—have been found to cause tumors in rats in laboratory studies or have been known to cause bladder cancer in humans. In some studies, increased risk has been associated with permanent dyes and use of darker-colored hair dyes.
IARC researchers found a small, but consistent, risk of bladder cancer among male hairdressers and barbers. However, according to the American Cancer Society's Michael Thun, MD, vice president, epidemiology and surveillance research, "it was unclear whether that was caused by past exposure to chemicals that are no longer used or continuing exposure to ingredients in contemporary products." Some coloring agents were discontinued in the 1970s because lab studies revealed they had cancer-causing properties.
"IARC classifications are particularly important for regulatory agencies that have direct responsibility for workplace safety," says Dr. Thun. "Workers can reduce skin exposure to these products by wearing gloves."
Some studies have looked at whether personal use of hair dyes is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer, and cervical cancer, but according to the IARC, the evidence for a link thus far is "inadequate."
The IARC's findings on this topic will be published as Volume 99 of the IARC Monographs. For more information on this topic, see the American Cancer Society documents, Known and Probable Carcinogens and Hair Dyes.
(American Cancer Society, March 26, 2008)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 164437.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis. The research provides new insights for the understanding of the anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs.
NSAIDs have been used for the suppression of pain and inflammation in the clinic for many years. The main targets of these drugs are cyclooxygenases (COXs) which play critical roles in maintaining physiological homeostasis, mediating inflammatory reactions and promoting tumorigenesis. However, COX-independent effects are also important for the inhibition of cancer development by NSAIDs. Indeed, NSAIDs are considered as a novel class of effective chemopreventive drugs.
The research team, led by Wen-Chun Hung, Dean of College of Science, National Sun Yat-Sen University, and a recent doctorial graduate Mei-Ren Pan and two collaborators Hui-Chiu Chang and Lea-Yea Chuang of Kaohsiung Medical University found that NSAIDs up-regulated several anti-metastatic genes including secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), thrombospindin-1 (TSP-1), TSP-3 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) in human lung cancer cells.
"Our functional assay suggested that increases of SPARC and other anti-metastatic genes were important for NSAIDs to inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis" said Wen-Chun Hung. "More importantly, we elucidated the underlying mechanism and demonstrated that up-regulation of SPARC in human lung cancer cells was mediated via inhibition of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) expression and promoter de-methylation. This is the first report to show that NSAIDs may inhibit the expression of DNMTs to reverse promoter methylation and to reactivate gene transcription."
The researchers say that hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes is frequently found in many types of human cancer and is a crucial step for tumorigenesis. Recently, a number of de-methylating agents have been reported to exhibit potent anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, these agents are considered to be useful for cancer therapy. As a matter of fact, two de-methylating drugs 5-Azacitidine and 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (decitabine) have been approved for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, a heterogenous group of hematopoietic stem cell disorders that are multifactorial in their etiology.
Hung says "our results indicate that NSAIDs may function as de-methylating agents via inhibition of DNMTs and may provide a new strategy for the treatment or prevention of cancer". Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, agrees and said "These unique findings by Dr. Hung and colleagues suggest an entirely new function for non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs in cancer therapy. This is an exciting advance for the field of Cancer biology".
This research is to be published in the April 2008 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.
(Science Daily, Latest Research News, March 28, 2008)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.
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Hi There, Gail,
That is the big problem with letting people know that everything is OK when the PC is down.
I will need to think of a way to do that even if I have to go to the library and use theirs.
We are doing fine, and will be going out today for a much-needed social with Claire and Bill. We look forward to these get-togethers.
We do these outings about once a month - depending on our respective situations.
Getting out socially is so very important in lifting us out of ourselves. They understand pretty much the whole scenario with this, and there is no need to explain much.
Thank you, Gail, for thinking of us, and I hope all is going along well for you.
Barbara
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I am grateful that Bill and I will be going out to lunch with my sister and her husband tomorrow.
We need some thoughts of "other things." Just being with people and smiling is going to be wonderful.
Barbara
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Hi There, Linda,
I have been offline for a time due to my modem having sung a swan song.
Our son installed the new one that arrived today, and happily am back online.
Not that I was addicted, but Linda, he wasn't out the door two minutes, when I was typing away.
Bill just laughed. He knows me well.Yes, I see so many here with us. They have joined a warm and gracious group, thankfully. It is enough pressure trying to deal with appointments, scans, and what-not, without trying to negotiate my way through a maze. No doubt many will enjoy the challenge.
I am just too derned old.
Thank you for shouting out the greeting. Love you,
Barbara
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Dear, dear Carol,
You see? I scrolled every day, and thought I did not miss anyone, but I did.
Please, forgive the faux pas.
I have been "with you" and "you with our story" for such a very long time.
Missing replying to you in a timely fashion should invoke, at least, an
.Thank you for the warm and lovely welcome. I thought I would be missing so many people, but you guys saved my feeling down and depressed. God love you all.
Carol, keep those "prayers going up, and those blessings coming down."
Barbara
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Dear Mary Ann,
So very GOOD so to see you I'm sure you will get used to those new changes there.
Everything new takes a bit of adjustment.
This transfer back to my roots, so to speak, has been very warm and comforting. I feel "at home."
Thank you for your blessings, and I send back my prayer, good wish and vibe to you, Mary Ann.
Anytime I see something that pops up and gives me "that feeling" that it might be of some import, or more, I'll make sure I post it.
This is, after all, a way for the many of us holding onto hope.
Barbara
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http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/538888/?sc=dwhn
Newswise — About one-fourth to one-half of new cancer treatments that reach assessment in phase 3 randomized clinical trials are eventually proven successful, according to a report in the March 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, but continuous improvements have been made in survival and other outcomes, according to background information in the article. “To a large extent, this has occurred through the introduction of new treatments tested in clinical trials, with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) widely considered to be the most reliable method of assessing differences between the effects of health care interventions,” the authors write. “Cancer is the only disease for which the National Institutes of Health has consistently funded a cooperative clinical trial infrastructure. Despite this investment, little is known about the proportion of clinical trials that have led to the discovery of successful new treatments.”
Benjamin Djulbegovic, M.D., Ph.D., of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and colleagues extracted data from all completed phase 3 randomized clinical trials conducted by the National Cancer Institute cooperative groups since their inception in 1955. A total of 624 trials involving 216,451 patients were analyzed.
Overall, 30 percent of the trials had statistically significant results; in 80 percent of those cases, new treatments were superior to established protocols. The original researchers reported that the risk-benefit ratio favored new treatments in 41 percent of comparisons, while standard treatments were favored in 59 percent of comparisons.
“The real effects of new treatments compared with standard treatments in terms of patient outcomes such as survival is best measured by quantitative pooling of data,” the authors write. “When done this way, new treatments are, on average, found to be slightly superior to standard treatments, with a 5 percent relative reduction in the death rate. This, of course, should not be understood as the average effects of new discoveries being equally spread among all patients.” In 15 percent of the trials, breakthrough therapies were discovered; in 2 percent of the cases, these reduced the death rate by more than 50 percent.
“In conclusion, society has received a good return on its investment in the cooperative oncology group system,” which funds the trials, the authors write. “The public can expect that about 25 percent to 50 percent of new cancer treatments that reach the stage of assessment in randomized clinical trials will prove to be successful. This pattern of successes has become more consistent over time. However, our results also indicate that the absolute number of discoveries might be improved if the proportion of inconclusive trials is reduced.”
(Arch Intern Med. 2008;168[6]:632-642. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)
Editor’s Note: Co-author Dr. Bennett received consulting fees and grant support from Sanofi-Aventis and AMGEN. Co-author Dr. Bepler received consulting fees and grant support from Eli Lilly and Company and Sanofi-Aventis. This study was supported by the Research Program on Research Integrity, Office of Research Integrity and National Institutes of Health. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
(NewsWise, Medical News, Source: AMA, March 24, 2008)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.
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Hi There, Peachy,
You are happily remembered from the other site.
So very glad to see you again.
The profile tends to get a bit wordy (will just clean out the unnecessary verbiage). There won't be any cutbacks on the important stuff - dates, treatments, and regimens. They are important to know - promise.
I do the same, Peachy, I read all the profiles, and then, I go back and read some more. My memory gives me a few "moments"
and repetition helps glue it into crystallized memory. Bill and I joke that he had the WBR, and I have more short-term memory loss. Go figure.Thank you so very much for the warm welcome, and the noting of Bill's last scans.
Right this minute, he is outside raking - no lie. It's his exercise. The wind around this area has had every one's leaves piled up against our side fence. Time for spring clean out.
Sending you all my best,
Barbara
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Hi Judy,
Good question, but I don't know the answer to that.
It would seem to me that since this news has been sent to those in the medical field, that they would definitely be on the lookout. Being alert to it, as you have indicated, should give you the opportunity to bring it up for discussion.
It would be a good question to our doctors. Bill hasn't been on any of this type,(as yet).
I do tend to ask a question about a drug even if it isn't on the "menu."
Barbara
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Hi,
I can only offer my experiences in having been in that same boat emotionally as your husband.
I am a caregiver, and there were times when I went too far with trying to "control/parent" the situation.
There has been much for me to learn over the three plus years in adjusting to this "new normal" way of life. This disease can be a challenge.
I found that when people offered to help us, my acceptance of it was actually therapeutic. It wasn't in my nature - had to do it all - alone. Accepting that help gave me a chance to regroup.
The very fact that your husband felt comfortable in telling you that he needs help, and/or an anti-depressant, is a sign of his love for you.
Caregivers need to learn to take care of themselves first, or there is less ability to help loved ones.
There is absolutely no shame in seeking help - emotional, physical, or medical. It's an intelligent, and proactive move. Each of us needs to address what we need.
May you receive the help you both seek. I admire your coming here, and telling others of your concerns. You are both, no doubt, wonderful spouses.
Both of you and your children are wished much success with finding the right solutions. Seeking help means you are close to the goal.
Sending best wishes and thoughts to you both,
Barbara
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http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/ ... ekey=87957
ARTICLE:
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March 19, 2008 — Long-term use of the osteoporosis drug Fosamax may weaken the bones in a small subset of people taking the drug.
Patients who suffer this unusual side effect suffer broken legs after minor falls. It's likely that other drugs in the same class as Fosamax — the bisphosphonates — have the same rare side effect. It is seen in only a small number of patients who took the drug for more than five years.
Joseph M. Lane, MD, chief of the metabolic bone disease service at New York Hospital and professor of special surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and colleagues report the side effect in a letter to the March 20 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
"There is a subset of patients for whom the longer they take bisphosphonates, the more they turn off the internal repair of the bone. This sets them up for bone fractures after trivial falls," Lane tells WebMD. "Is everyone who takes a bisphosphonate going to get this? No. This is a subset of patients. But we cannot say what makes these patients unique. And is it unique to this one bisphosphonate, or to all drugs in this class? We don't know."
Lane and colleagues report 15 cases of unusual bone fractures in postmenopausal women who had been taking Fosamax for more than five years. All had fractures along the length of the femur, the long bone in the thigh, after falls from standing position or lower.
Ten of the patients had a distinct and unusual fracture pattern. These patients had been taking Fosamax for more than seven years on average; the other five patients averaged less than three years of Fosamax use.
"People on prolonged bisphosphonates — and Fosamax is the only one we have seen so far — after five to seven years they are at risk of fractures in the long bone of the leg," Lane says. "They complained of thigh pain for months before the breaks. So it seems they start off with a stress fracture that is unrecognized, and it goes on to full fracture."
Susan Bukata, MD, director of the center for bone health at the University of Rochester, New York, says orthopaedic surgeons and specialists in metabolic bone disease are well aware of this problem. Bukata was not involved in the Lane report.
"This is not seen only with Fosamax. We see this in cancer patients given high doses of Zometa as well," Bukata tells WebMD. "Fosamax was the most commonly used bisphosphonate for the longest time. And it takes several years on the drug before it seems to be a problem. So more people have been on Fosamax long term than on Actonel or the several other bisphosphonates."
What's going on? Bisphosphonates keep the body from reabsorbing bone. That slows bone loss in osteoporosis. But it also interferes with the body's natural bone-repair process.
That's why a growing number of bone experts suggest that after about five years of bisphosphonate use, patients should take a "drug holiday" until blood tests show their bone turnover increasing. It's done in Europe and in Australia, and in a growing number of U.S. bone centers — including Lane's and Bukata's institutions.
"Remember, bisphosphonates go into the bone like money goes into an IRA. Put money in now and it comes out, slowly, later," Lane says. "The general thought is that after about five years of bisphosphonate treatment, you stop for a year or two. And if bone-turnover markers go up, restart, and if not, watch. Some patients on bisphosphonate holiday followed for up to four years have not shown any change in these markers and are steady."
Meanwhile, Bukata warns patients not to stop taking their osteoporosis drugs.
"The average person should not worry about this — and certainly should not stop taking their bisphosphonates," she says. "We as doctors need to be aware of this and start finding out who is at risk and why. But the last thing we want is for people to stop taking their bisphosphonates because of this type of fracture."
Lane notes that the rare leg fractures linked to Fosamax use are far less dangerous than the hip fractures the drug prevents.
"Public-health-wise, I will take these [leg] fractures, because hip fractures, which are lethal, go down 50% with use of these drugs," he says.
Bisphosphonate drugs for osteoporosis include Actonel, Actonel+Ca, Boniva, Fosamax, Fosamax+D, Reclast, and Zometa.
Other bisphosphonates include Aredia, Didronel, Skelid, and Zometa.
Merck, the drug company that makes Fosamax, did not respond to WebMD's request for a response to the Lane report.
SOURCES: Lenart, B.A. The New England Journal of Medicine, March 20, 2008; vol 358: pp 1304-1306. Joseph M. Lane, MD, chief, Metabolic Bone Disease Service, New York Hospital; professor of orthopaedic surgery, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York. Susan Bukata, MD, director of the center for bone health, University of Rochester, N.Y.
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.
like me.
Hello Lisa 
To All Our Survivors
in HOPE
Posted
Kasey Dear,
You have filled me with even more resolve through this most encouraging video. It has arrived at a moment in time when I needed it most.
Thank you,
Barbara