Supplement Does Not Slow Bone Loss, Study Shows

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Supplement Does Not Slow Bone Loss, Study Shows

Tuesday March 20 5:33 PM ET

http://dailynews./h/nm/20010320/hl/bones_1.html

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An over-the-counter supplement

marketed as a natural way to prevent bone thinning appears

ineffective,

according to results of a 3-year study in Denmark. In fact,

researchers

found, some women who took the supplement experienced a drop in

their white blood cell counts, a condition that can impair the

immune

system.

The supplement, called ipriflavone, is a synthetic version of

one of the

isoflavones, which are plant-based compounds with estrogen-like

effects. Soy protein is rich in isoflavones, and some research

suggests

that a diet heavy in soy products, such as tofu, helps prevent

osteoporosis. While ipriflavone is sold in health-food stores in

the US, it

is used as a prescribed osteoporosis treatment in Europe and

Japan.

But the supplement may not live up to its claims, researchers

report in

the March 21st issue of The Journal of the American Medical

Association (news - web sites). In a study of 474 postmenopausal

women with low bone mineral density, investigators found that 3

years

of ipriflavone treatment not only failed to slow bone loss, but

it also

triggered a drop in white blood cells in some women.

Dr. sen of the Center for Clinical and Basic

Research in

Ballerup, Denmark, led the study. He and his colleagues had half

of the

study participants take 200 milligrams of ipriflavone three

times per day,

while the other half took placebo, or inactive, pills.

All of the women took calcium supplements. By the end of the

study,

there was no difference in bone density between the two groups.

And

about 13% of women on the supplement developed lymphocytopenia,

a

drop in white blood cells that, in most of these cases, resolved

after the

women stopped taking ipriflavone.

Although earlier studies have suggested ipriflavone does fight

bone

thinning, sen's team notes, these findings suggest that

compared with other osteoporosis treatments, ipriflavone offers

little

benefit.

``Ipriflavone bought at a health-food store is not a substitute

for

recommended osteoporosis treatments,'' Dr. Lawrence G. Raisz, of

the

University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, said in

an

interview with Reuters Health. Current recommendations for

preventing

and managing osteoporosis include getting enough calcium and

vitamin

D, exercising regularly and using treatments that slow bone loss

such as

hormone replacement therapy.

However, Raisz said, this study does not suggest that

isoflavones and

soy-based diets are ineffective against bone thinning.

Ipriflavone, he

noted, is an isoflavone derivative, and not the real thing found

in soy.

``This doesn't rule out the possibility that some combination of

isoflavones in soy protein might work,'' said Raisz, who also

heads the

scientific advisory board for the National Osteoporosis

Foundation.

What is needed, he said, are controlled trials of the role of

soy in

preventing and treating bone loss.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association

2001;285:1482-