Fractures that Plague Senior Citizens Can be Reduced
by Taking Calcium with Vitamin D
Large study supports growing consensus that combined
calcium and vitamin D is more effective than vitamin D alone in reducing
fractures
Jan. 14, 2010 – The risk of bone fractures, a major
cause of disability, loss of independence and death for senior citizens,
can be reduced for people of any age and any sex by taking calcium with
vitamin D supplements on a daily basis, according to a study of nearly
70,000 patients.
Researchers also urging close monitoring of elderly
with hypertension during weather extremes; second study says thinking
ability varies with blood pressure
The study included data published in 2006 from
clinical trials conducted at UC Davis in Sacramento as part of the
Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). It appears online in this week’s
edition of the British Medical Journal.
“What is important about this very large study is
that goes a long way toward resolving conflicting evidence about the
role of vitamin D, either alone or in combination with calcium, in
reducing fractures,” said John Robbins, professor of internal medicine
at UC Davis and a co-author of the journal article.
“Our WHI research in Sacramento included more than
1,000 healthy, postmenopausal women and concluded that taking calcium
and vitamin D together helped them preserve bone health and prevent
fractures. This latest analysis, because it incorporates so many more
people, really confirms our earlier conclusions.”
Led by researchers at Copenhagen University in
Denmark, Robbins and an international team of colleagues analyzed the
results of seven large clinical trials from around the world to assess
the effectiveness of vitamin D alone or with calcium in reducing
fractures among people averaging 70 years or older.
The researchers could not identify any significant
effects for people who only take vitamin D supplements.
Among the clinical trial results analyzed was
Robbins’ WHI research, which was part of a 15-year, national program to
address the most common causes of death, disability and poor quality of
life in postmenopausal women such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and
osteoporosis.
Those trials were primarily designed to study the
effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in preventing hip
fractures, with a secondary objective of testing the supplements on
spine and other types of fractures, as well as on colorectal cancer. The
results were published in the Feb. 16, 2006 edition of the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Fractures, particularly in older people, are often
the result of osteoporosis, or porous bone, a disease characterized by
low bone mass and bone fragility. The National Osteoporosis Foundation
estimates that about 10 million Americans have osteoporosis; 80 percent
of them are women.
Four of 10 women over age 50 will experience a
fracture of the hip, spine or wrist in their lifetime, and
osteoporosis-related fractures were responsible for an estimated $19
billion in health-related costs in 2005.
“This study supports a growing consensus that
combined calcium and vitamin D is more effective than vitamin D alone in
reducing a variety of fractures,” said Robbins. “Interestingly, this
combination of supplements benefits both women and men of all ages,
which is not something we fully expected to find. We now need to
investigate the best dosage, duration and optimal way for people to take
it.”
About information source:
UC Davis Health System is an academic health center
that includes a top-ranked school of medicine, a 613-bed acute care
hospital, the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, a National Cancer
Institute-designated cancer center, the unique MIND Institute for the
study of neurodevelopmental disorders, a comprehensive children's
hospital, a level 1 trauma center and outpatient clinics in communities
throughout the Sacramento region. Consistently ranked among the nation's
top medical schools and best hospitals, UC Davis has established itself
as a national leader in telehealth, rural medicine, cancer,
neurodevelopmental disorders, vascular medicine, and trauma and
emergency medicine. Other areas of research strength include clinical
and translational science, regenerative medicine, infectious disease,
neuroscience, functional genomics and mouse biology, comparative
medicine and nutrition, among many others.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Jan. 14, 2010 – The risk of bone fractures, a major
cause of disability, loss of independence and death for senior citizens,
can be reduced for people of any age and any sex by taking calcium with
vitamin D supplements on a daily basis, according to a study of nearly
70,000 patients.