RESEARCH - Vitamin D does not stop prevent low-trauma fractures in elderly

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Epidemiology

Vitamin D does not stop prevent low-trauma fractures in elderly

Last Updated: 2005-04-27 16:56:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Giving vitamin D and calcium supplements to

mobile elderly patients who suffer from osteoporosis does not prevent

fractures, according to a study published online in The Lancet.

" Our trial indicates that routine supplementation with calcium and vitamin

D3, either alone or in combination, is not effective in the prevention of

further fractures in people who had a recent low-trauma fracture, " lead

author Dr. Grant commented in a journal press release.

Dr. Grant, of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and his team studied

5300 elderly people who had fractured a bone during the previous 10 years.

They were randomized into four groups that were given 800 IU vitamin D, 1000

mg calcium, both vitamin D and calcium, or a placebo per day.

After follow-up of between 24 and 62 months, there were 698 fractures.

However, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of

all new fractures, fractures confirmed by X-ray, hip fractures, death,

number of falls, or quality of life in the different groups.

" There was no evidence that supplementation might be especially useful for

specific groups or that true differences could have been obscured by poor

compliance, " the team writes.

" We need to consider other strategies for secondary fracture prevention, "

Dr. Grant said. Bisphosphonates could be a better alternative, he added.

Lancet 2005.

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