Good news! Osteoporosis drugs can prevent pneumonia!

, June 2020 /
PRNewswire/ -- A recent study found that nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates ( n-BPs) widely used to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis are associated with a reduced risk of death from pneumonia and pneumoniaThe findings were published in Journal of Bone and Mineral ResearchPhoto: James Heilman, MD.Wikipedia
study included 4,041 hip fracture patients treated with N-BPs and 11,802 patients with hip fractures who were not treated for N-BPsIn an average of 2.7 years of follow-up time, N-BPs were associated with a 24% reduction in risk of pneumonia compared to non-treatment (69 vs 90 cases per 1,000 people per year)There was a similar correlation in thepneumonia mortality rates in the N-BP group and the non-N-BP group, which reduced pneumonia mortality by 35% (23 and 35 cases per 1,000 patients per year, respectively, in the N-BP group)previous animal studies have shown that N-BP treatment leads to high concentrations of N-BPs in the respiratory tractSenior author Dr Ching-Lung Cheung, of the University of Hong Kong, said: "Combined with its anti-inflammatory and immune regulatory properties, this may explain why N-BPs are associated with reduced risk of pneumonia, as we revealed in our studyHe added that it may be necessary to study the potential of N-BPs to treat symptoms of COVID-19(BioValleyBioon.com)References:Chor-Wing Sing et al,Nitrogen-Containing Bisphosphonates Are Associated With Risk of Pneumonia in Patients Hip, Journal of The Bone And Mineral Research (2020) DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.4030
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