The use of bisphosphonates in osteoporosis.

Bisphosphonates comprise a relatively new class of drug developed to inhibit bone resorption. They are used in Paget's disease and tumour bone disease and recently also in osteoporosis. In the latter, they inhibit further bone loss in postmenopausal osteoporosis as well as other types of bone loss, such as that suffered during immobilisation or steroid therapy.