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No link seen between BMD changes and decreased facture risk in patients taking calcium, vitamin D
Rabenda V. Osteoporos Int. 2010. doi: 10.10007/s00198-010-1469x.
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A study from Belgian researchers shows no significant association between changes in bone mineral density and reduction in the risk of fracture among patients who received calcium supplementation with or without vitamin D.
Veronique Rabenda, MSc, and colleagues studied the results of 15 randomized placebo-controlled trials that investigated the impact of calcium with or without vitamin D supplementation and included data on bone mineral density (BMD) and the rate of fracture. The trials included a total of 47, 365 participants, according to the study abstract.
Rabenda and colleagues found no association between greater increases in BMD in the lumbar spine and decreased fracture risk. The researchers discovered a statistically signification association between changes in BMD at the hip and a decreased fracture risk.
“However, results were not significant after excluding the both largest studies, in which BMD changes were measured in [a] very small subset of patients,” the authors wrote. “These points may have largely biased our results.”
The authors summarized, “Our results suggest that BMD changes cannot he used as a surrogate of anti-fracture efficacy, among patients receiving calcium, with or without vitamin D.”