Osteoporosis Health Center

Fastest Osteoporosis Drug: Actonel

Long-Term Treatment

Watts notes that bone-loss drugs should be taken for many years. But most patients stop taking them after six or seven months -- greatly reducing their potential benefit.

"When we start someone on osteoporosis treatment, we hope they will continue taking it for years," Watts says.

"But bone loss is a silent disease -- like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Until something happens, the disease doesn't make them feel bad, and the drug doesn't make them feel better. That is sometimes hard for people to accept," he says.

Thacker, too, stresses the importance of long-term treatment. Unlike Watts, who usually begins drug treatment only when a woman has frank osteoporosis, Thacker begins as soon as she detects bone loss.

"Once you're starting to lose bone mass, you need to be on treatment," Thacker says.

"First, we make sure a woman is getting enough calcium and vitamin D," Thacker says. "But if she is, and she's still losing bone mass, we start treatment. It is a long-term commitment. The chances are, you will be on it for a long time."