Over about 15 years of follow-up time, 466 women and 400 men died. After accounting for several health factors, women who took the bone drugs were about two-thirds less likely to die during the study than those who weren’t getting any treatment.

The reduction was 52 percent for men taking these drugs, but neither hormone treatment nor calcium was linked with a decrease in death rates.

“These findings have potentially extremely important consequences, which should have a major impact on the way osteoporosis treatment is viewed and used,” the researchers, who report funding from drugmakers, write in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

They add that many patients, even those with fractures, are not currently getting treatment, an “apathy (that) should no longer be tolerated,” they say.

In an email to Reuters Health, Dr. Murray Favus, who directs the bone program at the University of Chicago Medical Center, said the new findings might ease concerns about the drugs.

Only about one in 100,000 people taking bone drugs actually develop osteonecrosis of the jaw, he said, and the atypical fractures linked to the drugs are also very uncommon he said.

“The concern about complications or just not being committed to the medication has led many patients to stop oral bisphosphonate therapy,” he said.

“However, if one adds extended lifespan to the equation, will patients be willing to assume some risk for the long term complications in the pursuit of a longer life?”

Experts generally recommend screening for osteoporosis in anyone over 65, and as young as 50 if they have risk factors.

SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, online February 2, 2011.