Canada Researchers Find Little Benefit in 69 Calcium Supplements Trials
Researchers in Canada found little to no clinically meaningful benefit from calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, or both together in preventing fractures or falls in most older adults. The review, published in The BMJ, pooled 69 randomized controlled trials involving 153,902 adults.
That result runs against widespread use of these supplements for bone health and the rising prescriptions that have accompanied that practice in recent years. The authors said clinicians, guideline panels, and regulatory agencies should re-evaluate general recommendations in light of the current evidence.
The BMJ Review
The studies compared calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, or combined supplementation with placebo or no treatment. Across the full analysis, the researchers found little to no reduction in overall fracture risk from calcium, little to no reduction from vitamin D, and little to no reduction from taking both together.
The same pattern held for hip fractures and for falls. The review also found little to no benefit in either outcome, leaving the supplements without the fracture and fall reduction many patients and prescribers expect from routine use.
Canada Trial Data
The review drew on 11 trials with 9,067 participants for one part of the analysis, 36 trials with 92,045 participants for another, and 15 trials with 51,126 participants for the combined-supplement comparison. Those numbers give the review unusual weight: it was built on a far larger evidence base than a single study and still pointed in the same direction.
The authors said the findings do not support routine supplementation with calcium or vitamin D, or both together, to prevent fractures and falls. They also noted that prescriptions for these supplements have risen considerably in recent years even as previous reviews had already raised questions about how well they work.
Older Adults 65 And Over
The review focused on most older adults, a group in which falls are a major health concern. Nearly one in three people age 65 and older falls each year, and many of those falls lead to fractures that can reduce independence and quality of life.
The researchers cautioned that the results may not apply to people with certain bone disorders or to those receiving medication for osteoporosis. For everyone else taking calcium supplements or vitamin D for routine bone protection, the study gives clinicians and patients a reason to reconsider whether those pills are doing the job they were meant to do.
