In an osteoporosis drug, a Bristol study discovered a heart attack risk

Nesta Babbage, a 73-year-old resident of Pill, is currently self-injecting Evenity

A new anti-osteoporosis medication for women may raise their risk of having a heart attack, according to new research.

Some women over the age of 50 who have osteoporosis experience bone tissue loss.

Evenity, a prescription drug, has been shown to strengthen bones, but Bristol Medical School reports that it may also triple the risk of heart attacks.

The drug's manufacturer, UCB, declared that safety is at the forefront of its work and is currently reviewing the results.

In the UK, 31.5 million people have osteoporosis, which causes bones to deteriorate and become more prone to breaking. Of these, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men over the age of 50 have the disease.

Only in hospitals can Evenity, also known as Romosozumab, be prescribed, and about 125 Southmead Hospital patients receive it annually.

The medication promotes the growth of new bone tissue and can be administered orally or subcutaneously using a type of EpiPen.

Sclerostin, a naturally occurring component of the body that controls the growth and decay of bone, is where romozumab attaches itself.

It is the first novel osteoporosis therapy in ten years.

The new medication must be self-injected by Bristol resident Nesta Babbage of Pill.

She had severe osteoporosis, like many others, but was unaware of it until she fractured her spine earlier this year.

The 73-year-old woman reported experiencing "pain for ages" after "all of a sudden" feeling and hearing a click in her back. She was subsequently sent for a scan.

She believes Evenity has the power to drastically improve the way she lives.

In order to determine if patients like Mrs. Babbage are at risk and take action to lessen the effects of osteoporosis, health officials advise screening patients like her with a bone density scan.

Prof of Rheumatology Jon Tobias
We sought to determine whether using Evenity to block sclerostin might result in a higher risk of heart attack, according to Mr. Tobias.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Evenity is twice as effective at lowering the risk of spinal fractures in women as older drugs that doctors used to prescribe in tablet form.

Other research, however, was not as conclusive. This was the impetus behind Bristol Medical School's decision to examine female patients who had a genetic propensity for having lower sclerostin levels in order to obtain concrete evidence.

The increased risk depends on a patient's predisposition, according to Jon Tobias, professor of rheumatology at Bristol Medical School.

"It seems that having calcification in the arteries and also having the risk of heart attack are more likely to occur if you are genetically predisposed to having lower levels of sclerostin," he said.

Patients must make difficult decisions when weighing the advantages and disadvantages of using the medication, he continued.

There are some people whose risk of having a heart attack increases automatically as they age, especially if they are over 80.

To balance these factors out, he continued, "but if you are really at high risk of vertebral fractures and this drug is going to prevent a vertebral fracture, it's a matter of balancing these things out.".

More than 400,000 patients have received treatment with Evenity, according to UCB, and a post-marketing safety data review found that the drug's benefit and risk profile is favorable for the indications for which it has been given approval.

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