Supplements of calcium and vitamin D may reduce the rate of hip fracture by almost 40%, says a new analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). Certainly food for thought for 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men in Ireland over 50 who experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a subject that is included in the Be Independent Home Care Wellness Seminars as one third of women in Ireland consume inadequate calcium!

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial randomly assigned 36,282 postmenopausal women in the U.S. to 1,000 mg elemental calcium carbonate plus 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily or placebo, with average intervention period of 7.0 years. The trial was designed to test whether calcium plus vitamin D supplementation in a population in which the use of these supplements was widespread would reduce hip fracture, and secondarily, total fracture and colorectal cancer.

The report concluded that though based primarily on a subset analysis, long-term use of calcium and vitamin D appears to confer a reduction that may be substantial in the risk of hip fracture among postmenopausal women. Other health benefits and risks of supplementation at doses considered, including an elevation in urinary tract stone formation, appear to be modest and approximately balanced. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-012-2224-2