By Dr. Allen S. Josephs
Co-Founder & Director, Vitacost.com
Approximately 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis -80% of them are women. Additionally, 40% of women over 50 will experience a hip, spine or other fracture in their lifetime. Americans spend nearly 20 billion dollars a year on the care of these fractures.
A large-scale meta-analysis recently published in the British Medical Journal evaluated the use of calcium and vitamin D in the prevention of osteoporosis-related fractures1. Dr. John Robbins and his colleagues analyzed seven large, randomized clinical trials from Europe and the U.S. involving almost 70,000 patients. One trial, using 400-800 IU of vitamin D per day, found no significant reduction in osteoporosis-related fractures. However, the combination of vitamin D and calcium resulted in a considerable reduction in total fractures, including hip and spine.
Dr. Robbins noted, "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."
I am pleased by the results of this study but I'm not ready to discount vitamin D just yet. The reported study used 10 to 20 micrograms of vitamin D per day, the equivalent of only 400 to 800 IU. I suspect that if they used 3,000 to 4,000 IU, there may have been a different outcome with vitamin D alone. Regardless, this information further confirms that proper supplementation can help optimize bone health.
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