Study Indicates Osteoporosis Medications like Fosamax Can Extend Life

Sydney, AustraliaA new Australian study has shown that osteoporosis treatments such as Fosamax may actually extend a person's life by five years, the Los Angeles Times reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">In the recently released study of 362 people, the Australian researchers discovered that those taking bisphosphonates such as Fosamax experience the additional five years of life compared to osteoporosis sufferers taking other treatments such as calcium and Vitamin D.

"In a group of women with osteoporotic fractures over the age of 75, you would expect 50 percent to die over a period of five years," study co-author Jacqueline Center of Sydney's Gravan Institute of Medical Research, said in a release. "Among women in that age group who took bisphosphonates, the death rate dropped to 10%."

While it was not immediately clear why the treatments led to this benefit, the researchers reportedly believe it has to do with physiology, according to the news provider.

Despite this recent study, the use of Fosamax has also been linked to "poor healing of the jaw" and "atypical fractures of the thigh," according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.