ABC reports that a new study which evaluated 80,000 patients found that those who had been prescribed oral bisphosphonates, a drug used to treat osteoporosis, were 1.93 times as likely to be diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The risk is much more pronounced in those who have taken the treatments over a long period of time.

Diane Wysowksi, an epidemiologist with the FDA, wrote an editorial on the findings claiming that these links have been known for approximately 15 years, but no action has been taken against the drugs that cause the condition.

Even though 68 cases have been reported to the FDA of patients developing esophageal cancer due to the bisphosphonates, the organization has still not put additional warnings on the label, according to the news source.

Another study seemed to correspond with these results, determining that esophageal patients were more likely to have taken the drug than other control groups. Wysowksi concluded that physicians should take extra caution when recommending the drug.

According to The Toronto Sun, osteoporosis patients can successfully alleviate some of their symptoms by taking vitamin D, since it can help maintain normal levels of calcium, which can strengthen bones and teeth. Vitamin D can be easily taken in supplemental form and is also naturally transmitted through sunlight.