This study was with breast cancer patients
Rebecca Drieling, MPH, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Washington studied 887 postmenopausal women who were enrolled in the WHI study from 1993 to 1998 and who had a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Because of some of the breast cancer treatments, women with breast cancer have more bone fractures due to osteoporosis than women who don't have breast cancer.
In this study, women at risk for a bone fracture who took bisphosphonates for eight or more years had a higher risk of bone fracture than women who took the medication for two to three years. The researchers suspect this may have been because some of these medications stay in the body for up to eight to 10 years.
So just because you stop taking a bisphosphonate doesn't mean it no longer affects your bone health. And stopping the natural remodeling process for longer periods of time appears to be detrimental.
