Blood pressure medication may help to protect bones during ageing

Drugs that block the mineralocorticoid receptor, like the hypertension medications spironolactone and eplerenone, may help to protect bones during ageing, according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Scientists at Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) have come to the conclusion that drugs like prednisone are glucocorticoids, which help to reduce inflammation in patients with arthritis, for example, can actually disrupt the healthy, ongoing dynamic of bone being made and destroyed. “We think the mineralocorticoid receptor may explain a lot of what is going wrong in aging bone”