CME Activity Credit Expired

Welcome to CME Resources. Here you will find educational materials covering treatment, the latest data, and diagnosis of Osteoporosis.

• CME Info
  Accreditation Information and Disclosures.
• Webcast Presentation
  An archived webcast for physicians and medical professionals who treat patients with Osteoporosis.
• Printable Monograph
  

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of physicians and other healthcare providers involved in the management of patients with osteoporosis.

Statement of Need/Program Overview

Over the past ten years, osteoporosis has emerged as a major public health issue, related both to its prevalence and to the morbidity and mortality resulting from associated fractures. It is estimated that 10 million individuals have osteoporosis and an additional 34 million have low bone mass, placing them at increased lifetime risk for these events.

Despite the availability of both accurate screening techniques and pharmacotherapeutic modalities, osteoporosis remains significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated. Reasons included a lack of awareness surrounding the appropriate use of screening tests, who should be screened, and more importantly, the interpretation of results.

Several risk factors, medical conditions, and medications are associated with osteoporosis. One often overlooked cause of osteoporosis is vitamin D deficiency. Although osteoporosis is most often associated with inadequate calcium intake, vitamin D deficiency also plays a major role, as it contributes to osteoporosis by reducing calcium absorption. In addition, vitamin D supplementation has been shown to be important preventive measure for reducing fracture risk at the hip, wrist, forearm, and spine.

Several pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options are currently available for patients with osteoporosis. Pharmacologic treatment options include teriparatide, calcitonin, raloxifene, and bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates have been shown to be the most efficacious with regard to improvements in bone mineral density (BMD) and reduction in fracture risk, and thus are now the standard of care for osteoporosis treatment. Based on recent recommendations from the Surgeon General's report on bone health, changes in BMD or markers of bone turnover can be used as supportive evidence of the effectiveness of antiresorptive treatment. Randomized clinical trials assessing the efficacy of various bisphosphonates with regard to changes in bone mineral density and biochemical markers of bone turnover have recently been completed.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

• Discuss under-diagnosis and under-treatment of osteoporosis
• Describe the significant morbidity and mortality associated with osteoporotic fractures
• Identify individuals at risk for osteoporosis fractures
• Describe the medical evaluation of the patient with osteoporosis
• Tailor osteoporosis treatment based on patient needs