ObjectiveTo compare the clinical effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) with oral alendronate in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. MethodsFourty patients diagnosed to have postmenopausal osteoporosis (OP) from September 2009 to September 2010 were included in our study. They were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group. All patients were administered the same basic drugs:Caltrate 600 mg and Alfacalcidol 0.5 μg per day. For the experimental group, PEMFs were offered 6 times per week for 5 weeks (30 times in total), and patients in this group were followed up for 12 weeks. For the control group, alendronate was given at a dose of 70 mg per week for 12 weeks. Bone mineral density (BMD), visual analogue scale, and manual muscle testing (MMT) scale were evaluated before, 1 week, 5 weeks, and 12 weeks after intervention. ResultsIncreasing of BMD, pain relieving, and improvement of MMT had a trend of increasing values after 5 weeks of treatment in the experimental group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). However, there was a significant difference between the two groups in patients' lower back muscle strength after treatment (P<0.05). ConclusionPEMFs have the same effect as alendronate in pain relief, and bone mass and muscle strength improvement, and are even advantageous in increasing back muscle strength compared with alendronate.
We investigated the effects and optimal treatment frequency of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) on postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). A comparison was performed with the cyclical alendronate and a course of PEMFs in the treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis on bone mineral density (BMD), pain intensity and balance function. There was no significant difference between the two groups on mean percentage changes from baseline of BMD within 24 weeks after random treatments (P≥0.05). However, at the ends of 48 weeks and 72 weeks, the BMD of the PEMFs group were significantly lower than that of the alendronate group (P<0.05). No significant difference was detected between the two groups with regard to treatment effects on Visual Analogue Scale score, the Timed Up & Go Test and Berg Balance Scale score. Compared with cyclical alendronate, a course of PEMFs was as effective as alendronate in treating PMO for at least 24weeks. So its optimal treatment frequency for PMO may be one course per six months.