Today several classes of effective drugs are available for osteoporosis, of which the most commonly prescribed is a class of drugs called bisphosphonates. However, for these drugs to be effective, they need to be taken long-term and for at least a year. The tragedy is that, although at least a year of treatment isneeded, the majority of people prescribed bisphosphonates stop taking them within a year, 3 for a number of reasons that have been identified by this research. Many individuals fail to tell their general practionersthey have stopped treatment and, when they go on to fracture bones, their physicians may believe bisphos-phonates are intrinsically less effective than is the case. Stopping treatment may leave patients vulnerable to fractures. As physicians have become increasinglyaware of the extent of the problem, they have begun to reinforce the benefits of treatment to their patients.Little is known about the effectiveness of educating patients on the consequences of stopping treatment early. Ultimately we all need to understand more about why patients fail to complete a course of treatment in order to address the underlying problem effectively.

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