PikaB

The "2002 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Osteoporosis in Canada" issued by the "Scientific Advisory Council of the Osteoporosis Society of Canada" included an examination of the evidence regarding ipriflavone. It concluded that:
(a) Ipriflavone (200 mg, 3 times daily) is efficacious in maintaining BMD in the spine in postmenopausal women; and
(b) Ipriflavone is not efficacious in preventing fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

The report also stated that patients taking ipriflavone should be monitored closely, since, in one study, ipriflavone use was associated with significant lymphopenia in 29 of 237 treated women.

Since 2002, there was another study (PubMed ID 15852487) which found that although ipriflavone does prevent bone loss, it does not not restore bone density which has been lost.

So it would seem that, for women, ipriflavone is a way to prevent bone loss, but if you already have osteoporosis, ipriflavone will not be effective in restoring the BMD which has been lost, and will not be effective in reducing the fracture rate.

I think everyone on this board with osteoporosis wants to restore our lost BMD, and not just stay where we are now. It would seem probable that something more effective than ipriflavone is needed for that.