For patients with osteoporosis, there are a lot of drugs on the market that can reduce the risk of a new fracture by about fifty percent.
Why does treatment often not work in patients with osteoporosis? In the beginning, the biggest reason is non-acceptance of treatment, because the patient is not convinced that he needs it, the doctor claims.
“Those are nice numbers,” said rheumatologist Doc. MUDr. Zdenko Killinger, PhD., however, reminded that a lot depends on the cooperation of the patient.
He pointed out that a patient with osteoporosis also has other diseases – digestive, endocrinological, rheumatic or renal. They must also be treated, otherwise the effect in the treatment of osteoporosis will not be as good.
The most important thing in the treatment of osteoporosis is the use of medicines. Killinger said a patient should take at least 80 percent of the dose they should take in a year and stay on the treatment for five to 10 years. Why do some patients give up, or what are the reasons why the treatment does not work for them? MUDr. Zdenko Kilinger explained: “In the beginning, the biggest reason is usually the non-acceptance of the treatment, because the patient is not convinced that he needs it.” Other reasons are also other factors, for example, other drugs that he is taking at the same time.
Patients who have overcome a fracture themselves, or one of their blood relatives have overcome it, performed best in statistics. “They maintain themselves relatively well, because they know what it means when an elderly lady goes to bed. They also comply with the treatment more willingly and patiently than those who are not affected by osteoporosis and know the disease only theoretically. In addition, if they are not in pain, it is difficult for them to stay in treatment for five years.”
As the rheumatologist pointed out, the medicine the patient is taking is also important. In order for the patient to remain in the treatment, it should be safe, well tolerated and have an application formula. “Simply, the patient must feel that the medicine is helping him,” the rheumatologist continued.
The most common reason given by osteoporosis patients is that they forgot to take the medicine, their pain did not decrease despite taking the medicine, they have many side effects or they are too expensive. “If we want to achieve such nice results in our country, which we know from clinical studies from around the world, we have no choice but to improve cooperation with the patient and prescribe preparations so that the patient takes them,” concluded the doctor.
