Promoting our bone tissue can prove next-to-impossible if we are diagnosed with some severe health conditions, although a brittle bone drug is proving useful to cancer sufferers. Diseases like cancer may start as small clusters of cells, but as they grow they can impact on our general wellness. Health organisations are constantly researching new medicines to deal with chronic and terminal diseases.
Brittle bone medications
Quite often there can be a crossover in medication, such as anti-depressants being prescribed for pain issues. The same can be said for some brittle bone drugs that tackle declines in bone mineral density (BMD). These medications – like denosumab – may also bring about health changes when we have been diagnosed with other conditions, including lung cancer.
Over a third of some advanced lung tumours spread to our bones, making it very difficult to protect our wellbeing from further harm. Tumours that invade bones can increase our fracture rates and severely affect our recovery rates. But, research printed in the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer found that the osteoporosis medicine could positively affect our cancer survival rates compared to other drugs.
Building bone
Cancers that spread to our skeleton can weaken our bones, and this is further complicated by the fact that as we age we don’t produce as many bone cells as we did in our younger years. Nearly 50 per cent of our BMD is created in our teens, where it levels off then begins a long process of decline from our 30s onwards. We can protect our BMD though, with diet, exercise and supplements.
When we experience severe BMD loss or potential fractures from tumours we may need extra help to rebuild bone density, which can come in the form of medications like denosumab. The published study shows that when lung cancer patients whose condition had spread to their bones were prescribed the drug they lived 2.5 months longer than those given zoledonic acid. The study indicates that bone cell promotion is more effective via denosumab, which can give hope to cancer sufferers who also experience bone problems.
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