TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Alendronate seems to reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, held virtually from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1.
Rikke Viggers and Peter Vestergaard, M.D., Ph.D., from Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark, conducted a population-based case-control study to examine whether the risk for developing type 2 diabetes is altered by previous alendronate use. All cases with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes between 2008 and 2018 were matched with three randomly selected controls based on sex and age by incidence-density sampling. Data were included for 163,588 patients with type 2 diabetes and 490,764 matched controls.
The researchers found that after alendronate use, the crude odds ratio for developing type 2 diabetes was 0.93; this was further attenuated after adjustment (multiple adjusted odds ratio, 0.64). Among those with more than eight years of alendronate use, the adjusted odds ratio decreased to 0.47. There was a dose-response relationship noted between longer effective alendronate use and a reduced risk for type 2 diabetes.
"Excitingly, our research suggests that alendronate, an inexpensive medicine widely used to treat osteoporosis, may also protect against type 2 diabetes," Viggers said in a statement. "We believe that doctors should consider this when prescribing osteoporosis drugs to those with prediabetes or at high risk of type 2 diabetes."
Viggers disclosed financial ties to Novo Nordisk Foundation, which funded the study.
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