Calcium, Vitamin D used Together Cut Fracture Risk
Saturday Jan 16, 2010 (foodconsumer.org) -- A meta-analysis by researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital suggests that taking calcium and vitamin D in tandem can reduce the risk of fractures in both men and women, irrespective of their ages and medical history.
The study, which was published on Jan 12, 2010 on the online on the website of the British Medical Journal, showed that the risk reduction could be up to 26 percent.
For the current study, B Abrahamsen and colleagues meta-analyzed data pooled from seven, major vitamin D fracture trials in the U.S. and Europe, which revealed the association.
Trials included in the analysis were those conducted by Dr. John Robbins at UC-Davis and published in 2006. Dr. Robbins is coauthor of the current study, according to a press release by the University.
Enrolled in the study were 68,517 men and women with an average age of 70 years.
Among those who were taking 10 ug or 20 ug of vitamin D alone, no reduced or increased risk of facture was observed.
Taking vitamin D with calcium was associated with an eight percent reduced, overall risk of fracture and 16 percent reduced risk of hip fracture.
Those who took 10 ug of vitamin D daily along with calcium supplements were found to have a 26 percent reduced risk of facture, according to the abstract of the study report.
The authors of the study received fees for their research/lectures from major drug makers like Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble, Merck, Roche, Shire ProStrakan and Servier among others, according to the medical journal.
An early study led by Rebecca D. Jackson, M.D of Ohio State University and colleagues found that taking calcium supplements and vitamin D supplements increased hip bone density by 6 percent.
They also found taking both 1000 mg of elemental calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily reduced hip fracture by 12 percent, clinical spine facture by 26 percent and total fractures by 4 percent.
One downside is that taking both calcium and vitamin D were found associated with higher risk of kidney stones or renal calculi.
Jackson's article was published on Feb 16, 2006 in the New England of Journal of Medicine.
Vitamin D deficiency has been found associated with a wide spectrum of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and cancers.
Reporting by David Liu and editing by Rachel Stockton