In this video, Cathy covers medications that are used to treat osteoporosis, including: bisphosphonates (alendronate), selective estrogen receptor modulators (raloxifene), and hypocalcemic agents (calcitonin).
Key musculoskeletal medications that you should know. and specifically in this video, we will be covering medications used for osteoporosis. if you are following along with your cards, i am on card okay, so let’s talk about first medication class which are bisphosphonates. and the key medication alendronate can be used
For postmenopausal osteoporosis as well as paget’s disease, the mode of action of alendronate is to prevent of osteoclasts. so normally, osteoclasts are breaking down the bone and taking calcium from the bone into the bloodstream. and we don’t want that, right? we want that calcium to stay in the bones.
So that’s what alendronate helps to do, right? it prevents the osteoclasts from breaking it down, in terms of the side effects, the key side effect that’s going to be important for you to remember other side effects include gi upset, there are some key teaching points and they are listed on this card here, card 93 in
Bold and red. so definitely review those things. this on an empty stomach in the morning with a full glass of water, and then after they take this medication, we do not want the patient lying down because that can really result in that esophagitis. so after they take this medication, minutes to prevent that esophageal
Ulceration that also we’re going to want to encourage our patient to increase their intake of calcium and vitamin d, because vitamin d is needed for calcium absorption and they should also engage in weight-bearing exercises to help preserve their bone mass. and so my little trick for remembering this, i think
Alen, some guy name alan drones on and on about his esophagitis. the other little trick that you might use to remember this is after you take your alendronate, maybe go out and fly your drone, you fly your drone. maybe you’re sitting drone, right? so if you fly your drone for 30 minutes after you take alendronate,
Then that will help prevent that esophageal ulceration. estrogen receptor modulator which is raloxifene. can also help reduce the risk for breast cancer. the mode of action is that it binds estrogen in terms of the side effects, the key side effect i would remember includes an increased risk for embolic events. so this
Includes things like a dvt, a pe, or a stroke. this medication does carry a black box warning for just this reason because of the increased risk for clots. in addition, for teaching, you want to make sure your patient is increasing their intake and then we want to monitor the patient’s bone density. in terms
Of how i remember this medication, if you look at the name raloxifene, and you look at it backwards, it has fix and then the letter o. so i think that raloxifene will fix your osteoporosis. okay. finally, let’s talk about a hypocalcemic agent, meaning an agent that helps to bring down calcium levels in the blood. so the
Medication calcitonin is used for post-menopausal osteoporosis as well as hypercalcemia, meaning inhibiting the activity of osteoclasts. it in terms of the side effects, gi taking it through the intranasal route, then in terms of teaching, we’re going make sure you’re getting enough calcium and vitamin d, weight-bearing
Exercises, in terms of how i remember this medication, if you look at the word calcitonin, you think ‘tone it down,’ meaning tone down that calcium. bring those calcium levels down in the bloodstream. so that is it for our osteoporosis medications. in my next video, we will cover medications for gout. get through these meds together!
Transcribed from video
Osteoporosis Medications – Pharmacology – Musculoskeletal | @Level Up RN By Level Up RN