What is aromatase inhibitors used for?
What is aromatase inhibitors used for?
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) lower estrogen levels by stopping an enzyme in fat tissue (called aromatase) from changing other hormones into estrogen. (Estrogen can fuel the growth of breast cancer cells.) These drugs don’t stop the ovaries from making estrogen.
Do aromatase inhibitors cause muscle loss?
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) cause muscle weakness, bone loss, and joint pain in up to half of cancer patients.
How do aromatase inhibitors cause osteoporosis?
—Estrogen regulates physiologic bone remodeling by suppressing osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. During aromatase inhibitor–associated or postmenopausal estrogen deficiency, bone resorption and osteoblast-mediated bone formation are imbalanced, leading to net bone loss.
What does letrozole do to bones?
After 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen, subsequent letrozole causes a modest increase in bone resorption and reduction in bone mineral density in the spine and hip compared to placebo.
Do aromatase inhibitors cause weight gain?
Weight gain is commonly reported by breast cancer patients on tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors.
Do I really need an aromatase inhibitor?
Aromatase inhibitors are typically used to treat people who have already experienced menopause. These medications do not affect estrogen production in the ovaries. Since that’s where most estrogen comes from, aromatase inhibitors are not usually recommended for people with fully functioning ovaries.
What happens when you stop taking aromatase inhibitors?
High cholesterol. Lymphedema. Osteoporosis. Sleeplessness (it can take months to resolve bad sleep habits)
Do aromatase inhibitors cause fatigue?
Less common but more severe side effects of aromatase inhibitors are heart problems, osteoporosis, and broken bones. In many cases, the joint pain caused by an aromatase inhibitor leads to fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleeping problems.
Should you take calcium with anastrozole?
Coleman recommended that women taking anastrozole have their BMD monitored every 1 to 2 years. “They should also take calcium and vitamin D supplements during anastrozole therapy,” he said.
Will bone density improve after stopping Arimidex?
The results suggest that decreased bone mineral density due to anastrozole treatment improves after anastrozole treatment is stopped.
Will bone density improve after stopping letrozole?
Does letrozole weaken your bones?
Aromatase inhibitors (such as anastrozole, exemestane and letrozole) reduce the amount of oestrogen made in the body, which can reduce bone density and cause fractures.