Calcium, vitamin D supplements may not reduce fracture risk, claims study

New Delhi: Most of us are dependent upon various supplements – vitamins and calcium – to provide us with the nutrients we might be missing out on.

This is true especially in the case of older adults who opt for calcium supplements to boost their bone health and help prevent fractures and other bone issues.

However, a study has claimed that these supplements may not protect older adults against hip fractures and other bone breaks.

Practice guidelines recommend calcium and vitamin D supplements for older people to prevent fractures in those with osteoporosis, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Previous studies have come to mixed conclusions about an association between supplements and fracture risk, researchers said.

The study conducted by researchers at the Tianjin Hospital in China included 51,145 adults over the age of 50 who lived in their communities and not institutions, such as nursing homes and residential care facilities.

The adults participated in 33 randomised clinical trials comparing supplement use (calcium, vitamin D or both) with placebo or no treatment and new fractures.

The study found that supplements were not associated with less risk for new fractures, regardless of the dose, the sex of the patient, their fracture history, calcium intake in their diet or baseline vitamin D blood concentrations.

"These findings do not support the routine use of supplements containing calcium, vitamin D, or both by older community-dwelling adults for prevention of fracture," the researchers said.

(With PTI inputs)