A Study to Evaluate and Compare Alendronate and Risedronate on Bone Mineral Density in Women With Postmenopausal Osteoporosis (MK-0217-211)

A 12-Month Extension to: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Double-Dummy, Parallel-Group, Multicenter Study to Evaluate and Compare the Effects of Once Weekly Alendronate and Risedronate on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women With Osteoporosis

This study is to evaluate and compare the effects of Alendronate and Risedronate to treat women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The primary hypothesis for this study is that in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, treatment with oral alendronate 70 mg once weekly will produce a mean percent increase from baseline in hip trochanter bone mineral density (BMD) at 12 and 24 months which is greater than that observed with oral risedronate 35 mg once weekly.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women with postmenopausal osteoporosis

Exclusion Criteria:

• Bilateral hip replacements
• Esophageal abnormalities
• Metabolic bone disease (example - Vitamin D deficiency)
• Medications that would affect the breakdown or build-up of bone turnover