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It seemed suspicious to the team of dentists at the University of Southern California (USC), the fact that so many patients treated at the university dental clinic were being diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. So dentists there pored through the records of more than 13,000 patients and found that 208 of them had been taking the osteoporosis drug Fosamax, and of those 208, four percent had ONJ.
Osteoprosis poses a serious health risk for women. According to Natural News, women have a higher risk of dying from the bone condition than from breast cancer. But the treatment may be just as dangerous.
Fosamax is in a class of drugs called bisphosphonates (also called diphosphonates) that inhibit osteoclast action and the resorption of bone. It is one of the more popular choices for the treatment of osteoporosis. Natural News warns that Fosamax has been shown to increase the risk of ulcers, especially if taken with anti-inflammatory drugs. The publication also questions whether the medication actually strengthens the bone or makes it weaker.
