Panel: Postmenopausal women shouldn't take vitamin D, calcium supplements to prevent fractures

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(CBS News) The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says postmenopusal women should not take daily low doses of calcium and vitamin D supplements to prevent bone fractures.

The panel of medical advisors, who guide government guidelines on disease treatment, found there was "adequate evidence" that taking 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D in combination with 1,000 milligrams of a calcium supplements had no effect on the incidence of osteoporotic fractures. The review looked at evidence from 17 studies. The task force did find evidence the supplement combination could increase a woman's odds for developing kidney stones, but said the harm is small.

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Osteoporotic fractures, especially hip fractures, are associated with chronic pain and disability, loss of independence, worsened quality of life, and increased risk of dying, according to the Task Force. One half of all postmenopausal women will have an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime.

The panel also found little evidence that taking low doses of calcium and vitamin D would help prevent fractures in men or younger women. It also concluded that there was insufficient evidence that taking vitamin D supplements - with or without cancer - would reduce a person's risk of developing cancer. The evidence for those findings was too insufficient to lead to a recommendation.

Vitamin D is produced naturally by the body from exposure to sunlight, but it's also fortified in milks, cereals and other foods. Previous research suggests vitamin D may interact with certain genes in the body to protect against cancers such as colorectal cancer, HealthPop reported.

"The studies have been negative, inconclusive, or not well designed to answer the question from a scientific standpoint," Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer, told WebMD. "We are left without good medicine to guide people as to whether vitamin D prevents cancer."

Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a member of the panel and an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters that it's important for people to know that the new recommendation only applies to postmenopausal women and those taking supplements.

"We know vitamin D is very important for the body and it's important for everyone to eat a healthy diet that includes vitamin D and calcium," she said.

Clifford Rosen, a spokesman for the Society of Bone and Mineral Research, told USA today that the task force discounts a finding from a study of 36,282 healthy postmenopausal women, that found supplements were tied to a 10 to 11 percent reduced risk of fractures.

"The government panel's report is a little confusing," Rosen said.

The Task Force recently made headlines with its long-awaited final recommendation on prostate cancer screening for men, in which it said healthy men should not get a PSA test for prostate cancer because of the risks from finding a positive test outweigh the benefits of catching cancer early.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's new guidance on vitamin D and calcium supplementation can be found here. They are available for public comment through July 10, 2012.

[Molly-Pchr]

What took them so long?

[Twaker]

Once again: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you". Ever notice they only tell you what won't work. NEVER what will.

[CLS88]

400 i.u. of vitamin D(3), or 1/100 of a milligram, is essentially meaningless to human health.

At least 10 X that amount- daily- is required to maintain healthy circulating levels- 40 -60 ng/ml, 25 OH.

1000 mg of calcium has ALWAYS been too much in regards to relatively healthy individuals. Perhaps 1/4 is all that is needed.

For the record, calcium is abundant in the American diet.

FYI when docs recommended extra calcium in diets heart attack rates increased 27% within 2 years.

[cmptrwhiz88]

If advisories like this keep coming from this so-called panel, I'm sure that we will find the following advisory, especially since cost-cutting measures will be coming big time to Medicare and other insurances: "The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has determined that it is no longer necessary to receive medical care from physicians, since it has been determined that no matter what you do, you will eventually die anyway." End of budget short fall and health expenses anyway...this is getting ridiculous.

[Twaker]

Once again: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you". Ever notice they only tell you what won't work. NEVER what will.

[rayweld]

of course the task force didnt find any benefit the dosages were totally inadequite low. try starting the testing at 5k iu of d3 and 2k mg of calcium aday bet you get a whole different outcome. but they already know that! ther are thousands of studies from all over the world on vit d3 ,and the majority state you get the best results and protection when the blood levels are in the upper portion of the testing range. 80 to 100 on testing. 5k aday should get you to about 50 or 60.from that starting point you have to tweak it to find what works for you. and you cant get all your nutrition from the food you eat maybe 100 yrs ago but not in this day and age. and as for kidney stones, make shure you get plenty of water say 3liters aday.not difficult at all.