Abstract

Osteoporosis is characterised by low bone mineral density (BMD) resulting in fragile bones with increased risk of fracture. According to statistics, 75 million people worldwide suffer from osteoporosis. However, the higher consumption of soy by the Asian population is thought to be one of the contributing factors for the lower incidence of osteoporosis-related fractures in the region. Various side effects were reported to be associated with the use of both estrogen or hormone replacement therapy, and other classical anti-fracture agents. Therefore, alternative approaches, and especially natural therapies to treat osteoporosis are currently under research. In traditional Chinese medicine, osteoporosis is considered to be a disorder caused by the insufficiency of kidney yang, and the herbs perceived to be able to tonify the kidney yang have been used for more than 1000 years as therapy. Within this context, we have systematically researched the specialty literature on the topic, in an attempt to check whether various Asian plants could constitute valid therapies in the prophylaxis and treatment of osteoporosis, especially postmenopausal one. The current evidence suggests that isoflavones as well as other compounds from Asian plants extracts may regulate bone turnover by complex mechanisms and increase BMD, thus, potentially, reducing the fracture rate.

Key words: Osteoporosis, traditional Chinese medicine, Asian plants, bone turnover, osteoclast, osteoblast, estrogen, postmenopause.