Effects of calcium carbonate,vitamin D_3 and calcitonin combined with pulsed electromagnetic fields on osteoporosis in elderly women

Objective To study effects of calcium carbonate,vitamin D3 and calcitonin combined with short course of pulsed electromagnetic fields on osteoporosis in elderly women.Methods 96 elderly women with primary osteoporosis were randomized to the study group or control group with 48 in each.Patients in control group received calcium carbonate vitamin D3(1 tablet/day) and calcitonin nasal spray(120 IU,twice daily) for 12 months.On the basis of control treatment,pulsed electromagnetic fields were added on the patients in the study group for 8 weeks.Visual analogue scale(VAS) was evaluated before treatment and at week 1,2,4,8 after treatment.Bone mineral density(BMD) was detected before treatment and at 1 year after treatment.Results VAS before treatment and at week 1,2,4,8 after treatment in the study group and control group were(6.7±2.1),(2.6±0.9),(1.8±0.5),(1.4±0.3),(1.1±0.2) and(6.6±2.0),(4.5±1.3),(4.0±1.1),(3.2±1.0),(2.7±0.8),respectively.Pain relief was achieving in all patients.With a longer treatment,the pain was more obviously relieved.But the relief achieved in the study group is earlier and more than that of the control group.BMD before treatment in the study group and control group were(0.737±0.083) and(0.739±0.083),respectively.After treatment for 1 year,BMD were(0.793±0.082) and(0.791±0.081).The difference of BMD between the study and control group was not statistically significant(P0.05).But the BMD after treatment showed a statistically significant increase compared with that before treatment(P0.01).Conclusion Calcium carbonate,vitamin D3 and calcitonin shows a firm efficacy on the treatment of osteoporosis in elderly women.The combination therapy with short course of pulsed electromagnetic fields shows a synergistic effect on pain relief.But there seems to be not an obvious effect on the increase of BMD at1year after treatment.