Calcium Supplements Prevent Fractures … But Only If You Take Them
Reported April 26, 2006
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Calcium supplements can prevent fractures and bone quality but only if they are actually taken. The results of a five-year study on women 70 years of age and older reveal merely prescribing calcium supplements will be ineffective for nearly half of women.
Researchers from Australia studied the effect of calcium supplementation on 1,460 elderly women. Researchers wanted to know what could be done to help women with the bone loss they suffer after menopause. A decline in natural hormones contributes to calcium deficiencies in women, which can lead to osteoporosis and broken bones.
Researchers assigned half of the women in the study to take 1,200 milligrams of calcium each day. The other half was given placebo tablets.
As the end of the five-year study, researchers found there was no difference in the risk of fracture between the two groups. In the women assigned to take calcium, researchers discovered only 56 percent took their pills 80 percent or more of the time. These compliant women were less likely to suffer a bone fracture than women in the placebo group (10.2 percent vs. 15.4 percent).
The researchers concluded that as a widespread public health approach, calcium supplementation cannot be recommended as the way to prevent fractures in older women. They do say, however, for women who can be compliant, the use of calcium supplements is a safe and effective way to reduce the risk of bone fractures.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006;166:869-875
