Osteoporosis drugs linked to heart problems

Popular osteoporosis drugs - which have been widely used since the 1990s - may be the unsuspected cause of serious heart problems, researchers have discovered this week.

Drugs such as Boniva, Fosomax, Reclast and Actonel may cause serious heart rhythm problems, which increase the risk for stroke and heart attack.

The drugs contain bisphosphonates, which a research team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine has pinpointed as the cause of the heart problems.

According to the studdy in Drug Safety, 2009; 32: 219-28, the researchers made the discovery after they tracked the health records of 13,000 patients, who were compared with a further 13,000 people who were given a placebo.