Determination of the Combined Effects of Asian Herbal Medicine with Calcium and/or Vitamin D Supplements on Bone Mineral Density in Primary Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether combining herbal medicine with calcium or vitamin D supplements improves bone mineral density (BMD) more effectively than supplements alone in primary osteoporosis patients.
Results Summary
The meta-analysis of 52 RCTs found that combining herbal medicine with calcium or vitamin D supplements tended to improve BMD more than supplement monotherapy, though results were limited by high heterogeneity and reporting bias among studies.
Population
Primary osteoporosis patients (1,408 men, 3,481 women).
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
herbal medicine plus supplements (calcium and vitamin D variants) | increase | bone mineral density (BMD) | primary osteoporosis patients | - | tendency for notable improvement | #1 |
herbal medicine plus supplements (calcium and vitamin D variants) | increase | bone mineral density (BMD) | primary osteoporosis patients | - | tends to be more effective in improving | #2 |
herbal medicine plus supplements (calcium and vitamin D variants) | increase | bone mineral density (BMD) | primary osteoporosis patients | - | compared to supplement monotherapy | #3 |
UNLABELLED: Our review of 52 RCTs from 5 databases suggests a tendency for notable improvement in BMD when combining herbal medicine with supplements (calcium and vitamin D variants) compared to supplement monotherapy in primary osteoporosis. However, caution is needed in interpreting results due to substantial heterogeneity among included studies. PURPOSE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether herbal medicine (HM) plus supplements such as calcium (Ca) or vitamin D (Vit.D) improves bone mineral density (BMD) compared to supplements alone in primary osteoporosis (OP) patients. METHODS: We searched 5 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using HMs with supplements (Ca or Vit.D variants) as interventions for primary OP patients published until August 31, 2022. Meta-analysis using BMD score as the primary outcome was performed using RevMan 5.4 version. Risk of bias in the included studies was assessed useing RoB 2.0 tool. RESULTS: In total, 52 RCTs involving 4,889 participants (1,408 men, 3,481 women) were included, with average BMD scores of 0.690 ± 0.095 g/cm CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that combining of HM and supplements tends to be more effective in improving BMD in primary OP than supplements alone. However, caution is needed in interpretation due to the reporting bias and high heterogeneity among studies, and well-designed RCTs are required in the future.