Bad for the Bones

Knowing that glucocorticoids significantly increase the risk of fractures and is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, the use of the steroid has always been viewed as a doubled edged sword and “Bad for the Bones”. This week, we welcome Dr. Giovanni Adami, first author of Bone Loss in Inflammatory Rheumatic Musculoskeletal Disease Patients Treated with Low-Dose Glucocorticoids and Prevention by Anti-Osteoporosis Medications , whose goal for this study was to assess if a “safe” dose of glucocorticoids exists, with an attention focus on those with inflammatory rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (iRMDs) to determine if a low enough dose of glucocorticoids can still reduce inflammatory burden and yet significantly reduce expected risk of fracture.