Risedronate: clinical usage.

Risedronate is a new bisphosphonate--a family of drugs that inhibit bone resorption--and thus can be used in various bone conditions involving increased levels of bone resorption, such as postmenopausal osteoporosis, glucocorticoid-induced bone loss, and Paget's disease of bone. In placebo-controlled clinical trials, risedronate has been shown to prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women, to decrease the incidence of vertebral and non vertebral (including hip) fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, and to prevent bone loss in men and women treated with moderate to high doses of glucocorticoids. Risedronate has also been shown substantially to decrease the severity of bone pain and the level of bone turnover in Paget's disease of bone, and to improve the radiographic lesions of this disease. Risedronate is safe and well tolerated. Thus, risedronate is a new option for the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis, Paget's disease of bone and corticosteroid-induced bone loss.