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Question.
I am currently taking both Fosamax
and Evista. I take the Fosamax for prevention of osteoporosis and the
Evista for prevention of reoccurrence of breast cancer. I am a ten-year
survivor of breast cancer.
It seems to me that both of these two products do the same thing. I have
asked my doctors if I need to continue on both products and I get conflicting
information. One says I can stop the Evista and the other says to stay
with both products. Can you help me out here?
MW Lincoln, Nebraska
Answer.
Let's take a close look at the evidence.
To date there has been no studies that have compared Fosamax directly
with Evista. What this means is that even though both of these agents
are FDA approved to help with osteoporosis there has been no head-to-head
study comparing the efficacy of one against the other.
Interestingly both products do help replace calcium loss from the bones;
yet, each has a different mechanism for accomplishing this goal. Does
this mean that using the two products in tandem might provide added bone
re-calcification? I don't know the answer to this question for as I previously
mentioned there have been no studies that look directly at this issue.
Another bit of information to consider is that the Evista has not received
FDA approval for being indicated as a preventative for reoccurrence of
breast cancer though many women such as yourself, take the product for
this reason.
Right now as you are using two different agents for two distinct reasons,
even though they both have similar approved uses, I would continue on
them both. If these two agents had both been prescribed for the same indication,
say osteoporosis, I would have said stay with the Fosamax and forego the
Evista. Finally, for your information Fosamax will be available generically
with in a short period of time.....a little over 1 year.
Plus
04/05
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