Okay, I know that all of us are secretly looking for a “silver bullet” that will guard against everything from cardiovascular disease and cancer to bone fractures and sagging skin. But, the truth is that there will likely never be just one thing to “fix” any one problem, much less one thing to fix all the problems at once! As a case in point, I offer the results of a recent study about a wonderful vitamin, Vitamin D, and calcium, both of which shouldn’t be neglected, but aren’t “the answer” either.

Vitamin D Plus Calcium Guards Against Fractures
But the vitamin alone doesn’t offer significant protection, researchers say

(HealthDay News) — Daily supplements of calcium and vitamin D reduce the risk of fractures in women and men of all ages, even if they’ve suffered previous fractures, but vitamin D supplements alone don’t offer significant protection, a new study has found.

Researchers analyzed data from 68,517 people, average age 70, who took part in seven studies that looked at the effect vitamin D or vitamin D plus calcium had on reducing fractures.

The analysis revealed that vitamin D given alone in doses of 10 micrograms to 20 micrograms per day doesn’t prevent fractures. However, calcium and vitamin D given together reduce the risk of hip fractures, total fractures and possibly vertebral fractures.

The study, published online Jan. 12 in BMJ, called for additional studies of vitamin D, especially vitamin D given at higher doses without calcium.

There’s a growing consensus that a combination of calcium and vitamin D is more effective than vitamin D alone in preventing nonvertebral fractures, Opinder Sahota, of Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham, England, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Further research is need to determine the most effective dose, treatment duration and method of taking the calcium/vitamin D combination, Sahota said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about calcium and vitamin D.

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