Bone-Disease Markers Monitor Response and Adherence to Osteoporosis Treatments

A range of automated bone-marker tests for the diagnostic and prognostic assessment of patients with or at risk of osteoporosis can be performed on a single serum work area platform. The assays also provide an early indication of response and adherence to treatment.

The Elecsys range of bone marker, hormone, and bone mineral assays allows response to treatment and patient compliance to be monitored at an earlier stage (as early as three to six months after initiation of treatment) and throughout the course of treatment. This encourages adherence to treatment and provides medical staff with valuable information about its effectiveness. The traditional method for measuring response to treatment, bone mass densitometry (BMD), can take up to two years to demonstrate improvement to bone density

The comprehensive range of osteoporosis tests available from Roche Diagnostics (Burgess Hill, UK) for use with cobas or Modular Analytics serum work areas include the Elecsys bone-marker assays (ß-CrossLaps, total PINP [procollagen I N-terminal propertied], N-Mid Osteocalcin and vitamin D3-OH); the Elecsys hormone assays: parathormone, oestradiol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG); and bone mineral assays (calcium and phosphate).

According to the U.S. National Osteoporosis Society, one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 will suffer a bone fracture, the main cause of which is osteoporosis. Among the most commonly used treatments for osteoporosis are the bisphosphonates. Although this group of drugs can be highly effective, gastric side effects and a complex treatment regimen can result in poor adherence. Alternative treatments, such as anabolic therapies, are more expensive, and therefore less likely to be prescribed as a first choice.

Roche is a world-leading healthcare company in the fields of diagnostics and pharmaceutics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Roche is a developer of in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology.

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