Effects of electromagnetic fields on osteoporosis: A systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) as a safe, effective and noninvasive treatment have been researched and used for many years in orthopedics, and the common use clinically is to promote fracture healing. The effects of EMFs on osteoporosis have not been well concerned. The balance between osteoblast and osteoclast activity as well as the balance between osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells plays an important role in the process of osteoporosis. A number of recent reports suggest that EMFs have a positive impact on the balances. In this review, we discuss the recent advances of EMFs in the treatment of osteoporosis from basic research to clinical study and introduce the possible mechanism. In addition, we presented future perspectives of application of EMFs for osteoporosis.

KEYWORDS:

• Electromagnetic fields
• mechanism
• osteoporosis

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

The work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (Grant no. 81301552).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (Grant no. 81301552).