A Comparative Study of the Effect of Sodium Alendronate plus Thyme and Sodium Alendronate alone in Treatment of Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a chronic, progressive disease of multifactorial etiology characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, with a consequent increase in bone fragility. The disease often does not become clinically apparent until a fracture occurs . It occurs in the elderly of both sexes but is most pronounced in postmenopausal women .The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of sodium alendronate plus Thyme in treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and compare it's effect with Sodium alendronate alone . Forty postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were randomly divided into two groups( each group include twenty women) .The duration of treatment was 6 months . First group was given Sodium alendronate 70mg weekly and Thyme capsule 500mg twice daily, second group was given Sodium alendronate 70mg once weekly .The following parameters were measured for two groups at baseline and at 6 months intervals bone mineral density(BMD) and t score except ESR and serum ionized calcium were measured at baseline and at 2 months interval . There were a significant increase in BMD and significant increase in t score in group treated with Sodium alendronate plus Thyme after 6 months as compared with baseline  and with group treated with Sodium alendronate . Also there were a significant reduction in mean serum ionized calcium and mean ESR in group treated with Sodium alendronate plus Thyme and group treated with Sodium alendronate alone after 2,4,6 months as compared with baseline(P<0.05) .

Keywords: Thyme, BMD, Sodium alendronate, Osteoporosis, t score