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Activity Content

This activity will begin with an overview of important concepts related to bone health, focusing on mechanisms of bone loss, risk assessment, and screening. Recent treatment guidelines from the National Osteoporosis Foundation will also be reviewed. The faculty will then focus on two high risk populations, postmenopausal women and patients with breast or prostate cancer at risk for bone loss because of hormone ablation therapy. Even though it is well accepted that the former group is at risk for developing osteoporosis and fractures, screening rates and adherence to therapy are far from optimal. The risk of bone loss in patients with breast or prostate cancer is not so obvious, and bone health is often overlooked in these patients. Since patients with breast or prostate cancer take medications putting them at high risk for bone loss for five years or more, they should be monitored by practitioners in all practice settings with whom they come in contact during that time and beyond.

In this activity, the risks for bone loss and fractures will be described for each of these patient populations, and current and emerging therapies will be reviewed, including each medication's risks and benefits, delivery system, and role in treatment. Patient cases will be incorporated to illustrate the clinical decision-making process and highlight issues specific for the patient population being discussed. The importance of patient education and medication adherence will be emphasized, and the faculty will suggest mechanisms for improving the quality of bone health initiatives on both the individual patient and health care organization levels.

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