New Study On Calcium and Vitamin D Supplements

The biggest study ever of calcium and vitamin D supplements for older women showed they offered only limited protection against broken bones, causing new questions over what has been a standard recommendation for doctors and nutritionists. The findings were an offshoot of the big national study of diet and hormone therapy known as the Women's Health Initiative.

According to the study, the supplements seemed to reduce the risk of broken hips in women over 60 and also helped those who took the supplements most regularly. But as to preventing bone fractures overall, vitamin D and calcium flunked in these healthy women.

The study, which was over seven years and 36,282 women ages 50 to 79, gave half the participants 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 units of vitamin D, The other half took dummy pills or placebos. Women were also taking their own supplements before the research began, and were allowed to keep doing so, whether they were assigned to the test group or the comparison group. The supplements may have helped the women stay healthy but could have diluted the findings. Also, women in the study were taking hormone pills, likely further cutting the number of fractures.

The study showed better hip bone density in the group given supplements, but they ranked no better statistically in avoiding fractures of all kinds. However, women over age 60 reduced their chances of hip fracture by 21 percent with the supplements.