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DIURETICS
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In elderly, diuretics may cause thinning of bones.
THE QUESTION Older people frequently take pills known as loop diuretics to reduce swelling and fluid retention or sometimes to treat high blood pressure. Might these drugs, which increase the amount of calcium excreted in urine, contribute to bone loss?
THIS STUDY analyzed data on 3,269 men (average age, 73); 265 of them took loop diuretics -- either furosemide (Lasix), bumetanide (Bumex) or torsemide (Demadex). The men's bone density was measured twice, five years apart. During that time, average bone density decreased for the entire group. But the annual rate of decline was twice as great among men who had taken loop diuretics occasionally, and 2 1/2 times greater among regular users, than among those who never took the drugs.
WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Older men who take loop diuretics, frequently prescribed for people with heart failure and liver disease. Men generally don't lose bone density as early as women, but by their late 60s, men and women lose bone mass at the same rate.
CAVEATS Whether the findings apply to women was not determined; they do not apply to other types of diuretics.
FIND THIS STUDY April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
OSTEOPOROSIS
Medication might affect heart's rhythm.
THE QUESTION For older women, bisphosphonates reduce the chances of broken bones from osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease. But does this type of medication carry heart risks?
