Botanicals in postmenopausal osteoporosis

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease characterized by reduced bone mass and the de-terioration of bone microarchitecture leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures. Conventional anti-osteoporotic pharmaceutics are effective in the treatment and prophylaxis of os-teoporosis, however they are associated with various side effects that push many women into seek-ing botanicals as an alternative therapy. Traditional folk medicine is a rich source of bioactive compounds waiting for discovery and investigation that might be used in those patients, and therefore botanicals have recently received increasing attention. The aim of this review of literature is to present the comprehensive information about plant-derived compounds that might be used to main-tain bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal females.