Consistent Calcium Supplement Intake Can Reduce Risk Of Bone Fractures In Women Over 70, Study Says

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopedics;  Preventive Medicine
Article Date: 27 Apr 2006 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Calcium supplements can reduce the risk of bone fractures in women older than age 70 only if the pills are taken consistently, according to a study published in the April 24 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, the Wall Street Journal reports (Parker-Pope, Wall Street Journal, 4/25). Richard Prince, associate professor at the School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia, and colleagues enrolled 1,460 women older than age 70, assigning half to take two 600-milligram calcium pills daily or placebos for five years. The study finds no statistically significant reduction in risk of bone fractures among the women taking calcium, with 16.1% of participants having at least one fracture during the study period. However, among the 830 women, or 56.8%, who took at least 80% of their calcium or placebo tablets, the calcium group's bone fracture incidence of 10.2% was significantly lower than the 15.4% incidence recorded for the placebo group (Prince et al., Archives of Internal Medicine, 4/24). According to the Journal, when researchers looked at the women who consistently took their pills, they found a 34% reduction in overall fracture risk, a finding which "reinforces other data that have shown consistent use of calcium really does help women lower their risk for fractures," the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 4/25). The researchers concluded, "Supplementation of calcium ... is ineffective as a public health intervention in preventing clinical fractures in the ambulatory elderly population owing to poor long-term compliance, but it is effective in those patients who are compliant" (Peres, Chicago Tribune, 4/25).

Comparison to WHI Study
The study's findings are "striking[ly]" similar to data from an NIH-funded Women's Health Initiative study on calcium supplements and bone fractures published in the Feb. 16 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 4/25). The study followed for an average of seven years 36,282 women ages 50 to 79 enrolled in WHI who were randomly assigned to take one daily pill containing 1,000 milligrams of elemental calcium and 400 international units of vitamin D3 or daily placebo pills. The study did not find a significant difference in incidence of hip bone fractures between the placebo and supplement groups but did find that among participants who adhered to the regimen, women taking the supplements had a 29% lower chance of a hip fracture than the group taking the placebo pills (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/16). According to Reuters, more than half of postmenopausal women are at risk for osteoporosis as lower estrogen levels cause their body to expel calcium (Reuters, 4/24).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations