TY - JOUR T1 - Management of Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis – for Neurologists JF - Practical Neurology JO - Pract Neurol SP - 286 LP - 289 DO - 10.1111/j.1474-7766.2004.00251.x VL - 4 IS - 5 AU - Juliet Compston Y1 - 2004/10/01 UR - http://pn.bmj.com/content/4/5/286.abstract N2 - INTRODUCTION Glucocorticoids are widely used by a number of medical specialists, including neurologists. A recent study using the UK General Practice Research Database identified 1.6 million oral glucocorticoid prescriptions over a 10-year period in 683 practices from different geographic areas of the UK (van Staa et al. 2000). At any one time, the prevalence of oral glucocorticoid use was 0.9% of the total adult population, rising to 2.5% of those aged 70–79 years. However, the use of bone active medication in this population was extremely low (5% used hormone replacement therapy and only 1.8% used bisphosphonates). And yet, osteoporosis is a common and serious complication of treatment with glucocorticoids, being associated with an increased risk of vertebral and hip fractures.Some important characteristics of glucocorticoid-induced bone loss have recently been identified: Even during the first few months of therapy the onset of bone loss is rapid and the ER -