Herbs for Osteoporosis

Osteporosis poses a major health threat for up to 44 million Americans. The National Osteoporosis Foundation has identified many factors that seem to put people at risk, including advanced age, early or surgically induced menopause, chronic corticosteroid use, and maternal history of osteoporosis. Low weight-to-height ratio rounds out the list of factors that are not necessarily in your power to change.

Women have particular cause for concern. A woman's lifetime hip fracture risk is equal to her total risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers combined. During perimenopause alone, most women drop spinal bone density by almost two percent per year. And given that doctors no longer recommend hormone replacement therapy as a safeguard, you may be at a loss as to what steps to take, beyond drinking milk.

The good news? You don't need to sit back and wait for osteporosis to happen to you, Even if you represent every risk factor in the book, osteoporosis is, to a great extent, preventable and treatable. Rather than an inevitable casualty of getting older, bone health reflects the health of the whole body - a state of well-being that you have the power to achieve.

Plant preparations can prove quite effective in treating bone disorders, and evidence suggests that some of these medicines may improve the course of the disease. But where do you begin?.

First, maximize your continued hormonal activity. Take herbs that support the liver, including burdock root, yellow dock, and dandelion, since the liver processes estrogen, a hormone that affects osteoporosis risk. Other herbs have estrogenic effects: dong quai, burdock root, blue cohosh, black cohosh (probably the most well-documented natural alternative to hormone replacement therapy), Chinese ox knee root, Chinese 3-edge root, sage, alfalfa concentrate, and motherwort. These help minimize the effects that declining estrogen levels have on bone density. Then, incorporate herbs for bone maintenance and mineralization. These include nettle, alfalfa, slippery elm, oatstraw, and horsetail. Algaes are a rich broad-spectrum source of minerals as well.

Recent research has backed up traditional uses of certain key herbs for osteoporosis. Coupled with diet and exercise, these botanicals can help strengthen the bones and the networks supporting them, relieving pain and minimizing the deleterious effects of bone degeneration.

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) This legume contains more than 125 compounds, including isoflavones, which researchers pinpoint as the probable source of its beneficial effects. Isoflavone extracts of red clover help treat both menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis, as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy. One 2001 report, published in the journal Menopause, illustrated how a red clover isoflavone combination was associated with a significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol and a significant increase in cortical bone after six months of treatment.

While soy, another source of isoflavones, has been extensively studied, relatively fewer high-quality human trials support the efficacy of red clover for osteoporosis. Yet practitioners report success, and preliminary studies look good.

For osteoporosis prevention, take 40 mg of reg clover isoflavones.

Soy. A popular staple in Asian cuisine, soy has received a great deal of attention for its apparent benefits in preventing breast cancer and heart disease, and easing menopause. In numerous studies, several compounds in soy have been shown to lower cholesterol, slow bone loss, and block breast cancer activity.

Genistein and other isoflavones present in soy have estrogen-like effects in the body (thereby earning the name "phytoestrogens"). A small number of studies back their benefits, especially in the lumbar spine. Some safety concerns exist with the use of isolated isoflavones, however. They may slightly lower lymphocytes, and may possibly interact negatively with some drugs. While isoflavones modestly support bone health, you should not take more than 50mgs of soy isoflavones a day given the potential risks. Perhaps then, it would be better to stick to whole soy products.

Horsetail (Equisetum spp.) This traditional joint herb contains silicon, which plays a role in bone development and may enhance mineralization and promote calcium deposition in the bones. Preliminary evidence points to horsetail as a possible treatment for osteoporosis. In a 1999 Italian randomized trial, 122 women took a placebo, horsetail dry extract, or a horsetail-calcium combination, or had no treatment at all. After 40, 80, and 365 days, both the horsetail and calcium groups experienced a statistically significant improvement in bone density.

Take 4 grams per day, as a whole herb in capsules.

Ashwaganda root (Withania somnifera) Considered the main stamina-enhancing tonic for men in Ayurveda, ashwaganda builds and solidifies tissue growth, making it an "anabolic" herb. Since osteoporosis is a disease of "catabolism," or tissue destruction, ashwaganda seems like a good treatment choice (for men and women) - and modern research supports this.

The demonstrated effectiveness of ashwaganda in rheumatologic conditions may be partly due to its anti-inflammatory properties. For example, in a double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 42 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) received a formula containing ashwaganda or a placebo for three months. During both the pretreatment and treatment phases, researchers took and evaluated weekly pain and disability measurements. The herbal formula significantly reduced the severity of pain and disability levels.

Take ashwaganda at a dose of up to several grams per day for symptom relief. A maintenance dose is about 1 gram per day.

Salai guggul gum (Boswellia serrata) This herb has garnered attention in North America over the past decade for its pronounced effects on joint disorders. The medicine is a gum resin that exudes from the bark of a large branching tree native to semi-arid areas of South Asia. Ayurveda has traditionally used extracts of this gummy exudate as an anti-arthritic.

The gum contains components called boswellic acids that inhibit inflammation-producing substances, or leukotrienes, in the body. Boswellia gum also treats pain, another reason it makes a good choice for advanced osteoporosis. While Ayurveda recommends this herb for arthritis, we still lack human studies for this disease. Boswellia has been shown to reduce inflammatory processes in humans with colitis, however, which is a step in the right direction.

Boswellia is usually administered as a purified extract. For the initial treatment dose, 400 mg three times per day is suggested.

Turmeric root (Curcuma longa) The herb that gives the yellow color to curry powder, turmeric has profound anti-inflammatory properties and is a staple in Ayurvedic bone treatment. The active ingredient, curcumin, has been shown to be equivalent to non-steroidal, so it has none of the destructive side effects of steroid anti-inflammatories. The plant has also been shown to enhance wound healing, and it directly treats pain, too, depleting substance P, the pain receptor neurotransmitter, in the nerve endings.

Turmeric has very low toxicity, so your dose can be quite large. Generally, the larger the dose, the greater the relief. For acute inflammation, take as much as 1 ounce (4Tbls) per day. Stir the powder into water and swallow, or make it into a paste with honey. For continuing health benefit, use 1 gram per day as a spice or in capsules, or a standardized extract of 1500 mg of total curcumin content.

Willow bark (Salix alba and other species) A traditional pain reliever, willow contains salicin and other related compounds (salicylates), the herbal predecessors to aspirin. Plant salicylates relieve pain, reduce fever, and curb inflammation.

A 2001 German study assessed the clinical efficacy of a standardized willow bark extract for osteoarthritis. Researchers compared a dose corresponding to 240 mg salicin per day with a placebo in a two-week, double blind, randomized controlled trial. The investigators concluded that the willow bark extract showed a moderate analgesic effect in OA and appeared to be well tolerated.

Use a tea brewed from up to 1 oz, dry weight, of the raw herb per day, or an extract containing 240 mg of salicin. Use willow for as long as necessary.

Saint John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) Saint John's wort has been used in Europe for hundreds of years. Clinically, European and North American herbalists use the flowering tops of the herb to benefit mild painful conditions including arthritis, neuralgia, sciatica, and muscle inflammation.

The typical dose is 2 to 5 g of raw herb, 10 to 15 ml of tincture, or 900 mg of standardized extract (0.3 percent hypericin), per day.