Triple Herb Product Helps Prevent Osteoporosis in Spine and Hip

Hong Kong researchers looked at the impact of the triple herb product Bo-gu Ling (ELP) on post-menopausal women with osteopenia.
Their findings appeared in the article “An innovative herbal product for the prevention of osteoporosis,” which was published in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine.

A total of 150 women participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The women were between the ages of 40 and 60 years old, and they were post-menopausal for at least 1 year.

All of the study participants had a lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) that was less than 0.891 g/cm².

The women were divided into 2 groups—the ELP group and the placebo group with a total of 75 women in each group.

The primary endpoint was lumbar spine BMD, which was assessed at baseline, and at both 6 months and 12 months post-treatment. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography measurements of distal tibia and the changes in the quality of life were the secondary endpoints.

For the ELP group, spine BMD increased by 0.69% in the women who were more than 10 years post-menopause. On the contrary, spine BMD for the placebo group decreased by 0.61% (p=0.067).

Also for the ELP group, hip BMD increased by 0.21% in the women who were more than 10 years post-menopause. On the other hand, hip BMD for the placebo group decreased by 0.52% (p=0.159).

It was noted that in the ELP group, the tibia strength-strain index increased by 1.94% compared with 0.33% in the placebo group (p=0.047).

The research team also noted that physical function as noted in the SF-36 QOL questionnaire was remarkably improved compared with the baseline in the ELP group. However, this did not show dominance over the placebo group.

At the end of the study, researchers determined that ELP showed potential benefit in boosting bone mineral density in both the spine and hip in women who were at least 10 years post-menopause.