J Menopausal Med.  2017 Aug;23(2):124-130. 10.6118/jmm.2017.23.2.124.

The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Ghazanfarpour M
• Amini E
• Khadivzadeh T
• Babakhanian M
• Nouri B
• Rakhshandeh H
• Afiat M

• KMID: 2389228
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.2017.23.2.124

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The goal of this study is to assess the effect of fennel on bone density.
METHODS
This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which studied sixty eligible postmenopausal women, who were randomly assigned to fennel and placebo groups. Then, the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was utilized to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of the spine, femoral neck, intertrochanter, and trochanter at the baseline and after three-month follow-up.
RESULTS
The mean BMD and BMC at lumbar spine (P = 0.14, P = 0.504), total hip femoral (P = 0.427, P = 0.471), trochanter (P = 0.075, P = 0.07), intertrochanter, (P = 0.864, P = 0.932) and femoral neck (P = 0.439, P = 0.641) was not significantly different between the fennel and placebo groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study did not approve the effect of fennel on bone density in post-menopausal women. However, to gain deeper insights, further studies with longer durations and larger sample sizes are recommended.

Keyword

Bone density; Foeniculum; Postmenopause

MeSH Terms

Absorptiometry, Photon
Bone Density*
Female
Femur
Femur Neck
Foeniculum*
Follow-Up Studies
Hip
Humans
Postmenopause
Sample Size
Spine

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