A new study published today claims that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are taken to alleviate pain may interfere with the bone-protective effects of bisphosphonates, a type of medication.

Researchers have found that taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to relieve pain may make it more difficult for bone-protective drugs called bisphosphonates to work.

The findings of the study were published today in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 

The use of NSAIDs did not appear to have a direct impact on individuals’ bone fracture risk in a trial of 5,212 community-dwelling women aged 75 and older, but the drugs appeared to neutralize the bone-protective effects of the oral bisphosphonate, clodronate, on avoiding osteoporotic fractures.

“We need to exercise some caution in extrapolating these data to more widely used bisphosphonates in osteoporosis,” said senior author Eugene McCloskey, adding “but given that concomitant usage of NSAIDs and bisphosphonates is relatively common, this could have major clinical consequences and result in a failure to reduce fracture risk as much as we had hoped.”

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