Safety considerations with bisphosphonates for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Bisphosphonates are the most commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of osteoporosis. Although evidence supports a good safety profile for these agents, numerous tolerability issues have been associated with their use. This review provides an overview of the safety issues associated with the nitrogen-containing class of bisphosphonates and discusses the potential effect of these issues on adherence.

The effect of altitude on umbilical cord blood gases.

Objective: Analysis of umbilical cord blood acid-base status has proven useful in the immediate care and resuscitation of the newborn and provides an objective measure of the intrapartum fetal environment. Our study was designed to determine whether there are any significant differences in the acid-base status of neonates delivered at a relatively high altitude of 6000 ft compared with sea-level controls.

Methods: Our study population consisted of 300 women who had undergone spontaneous vaginal delivery after uncomplicated labor; 150 delivered at an institution located at an elevation of 5900 ft and the remainder at an elevation of 87 ft.