Treatment for osteoporosis usually includes changes in nutrition, an exercise regimen, and medications that help slow bone loss. It is important to make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet to help maintain the bone density you have. Exercise, especially weight-bearing exercise such as walking or jogging is important because it helps stimulate new bone growth and increases muscle strength. Because of the danger of fractures, osteoporosis patients should consult a doctor about how to exercise without putting sudden or excessive strain on your bones.

Medications to treat osteoporosis or prevent osteopenia from progressing to osteoporosis include:

• Hormone therapy: For post-menopausal women, replacing lost estrogen can help slow the process of bone loss. Some types of hormone therapy have been found to increase the risk of certain types of cancers and studies are underway to determine how to make hormone replacement as safe as possible. Talk to your doctor about the available options for hormone therapy and which one may be right for you.
• Bisphosphonates: This class of drugs works by inhibiting the process of bone resorption, thus slowing the process of bone loss and even increasing bone density in some areas. Drugs in this class include Alendronate (Fosamax), risedronate (Actonel), ibandronate (Boniva), and zoledronic acid (Reclast). They are all approved for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis while Risedronate is also approved to prevent and treat glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and to treat osteoporosis in men.
• Raloxifene (Evista): This medication mimics the effects of estrogen in the bones and can help post-menopausal women maintain bone density without the increased cancer risk that comes with hormone therapy.
• Calcitonin: This is a hormone normally produced only in small amounts by the adult thyroid gland. It inhibits the process of bone resorption and can slow bone loss, but is less effective than the bisphosphonates.
• Teriparatide (Forteo): This drug is a synthetic version of normal body hormone called parathyroid hormone. Instead of blocking bone resorption, it works by stimulating new bone growth.
• Tamoxifen: This synthetic hormone is used to treat breast cancer but it also has an estrogen-like effect your bone cells, maintaining bone density.

Another step you can take is making safety modifications around your home and workplace to help prevent falls that could cause fractures.