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Vitamin D Fails to Improve Bone Health

The current edition of Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggests that neither vitamin D supplementation, nor dose, will improve bone density or prevent fractures in adults. (Citation source: https://buff.ly/2O9tqxI)

A metanalysis of 81 randomized controlled trials included 53,537 subjects and varied in length ( 4 weeks to 5 years); most included women over age 65 years. 

Pooled data showed that vitamin D supplementation had no effect:

  • Fracture risk (36 trials; n=44 790, relative risk 1·00, 95% CI 0·93–1·07)
  • Hip fracture (20 trials; n=36 655, 1·11, 0·97–1·26)
  • Falls (37 trials; n=34 144, 0·97, 0·93–1·02)
  • Bone mineral density at any site (range −0·16% to 0·76% over 1–5 years).

The authors suggest there is little justification to use vitamin D supplements to maintain or improve musculoskeletal health. 

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Disclosures
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose related to this subject