ABSTRACT

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease that self-perpetuates unless it is treated. There are effective treatments that prevent bone loss, change bone turnover and decrease fracture risk. However, monitoring of pharmacological therapy in osteoporosis is also challenging like all chronic diseases. The most ideal method in monitoring osteoporosis treatment is to compare pre-treatment fracture risk with post-treatment fracture risk or to evaluate changes in bone strength. On the other hand, in clinical practice, there is no method to evaluate the change of fracture risk. Therefore, the surrogate markers such as bone mineral density measurements by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and bone turnover markers that evaluate bone remodeling are referenced in monitoring treatment. In this review, the methods used in monitoring of osteoporosis treatment are presented as well as the weaknesses and strengths of these methods. (Turkish Journal of Osteoporosis 2012;18:31-6)