Seniors who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live longer
Vitamin D & Calcium… The saga continues.
Last week, I told you about a new recommendation for seniors. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determined that RDA doses of D and calcium are too low to prevent fractures in the elderly.
So if you up the dosage, is the problem solved?
Not so, says the task force. Higher calcium intake produces a slight increase in the risk of kidney stones.
Not so, says Dr. Spreen. Not only is the correlation very weak, but add a magnesium supplement and it becomes even weaker.
But wait… We’re not done yet.
Dr. Spreen sent me details of a new study from Denmark. Researchers looked at eight studies. Each study included about 1,000 elderly men and women. Subjects were given D supplements, calcium supplements, D and calcium combined, or placebo.
Over an average of three years, those who took calcium and D together had a lower risk of dying.
You’ve got to like THAT trend.
Stay tuned. I’m sure there are more chapters to come in the D and calcium story.
Sources:
“Vitamin D with Calcium Reduces Mortality: Patient Level Pooled Analysis of 70,528 Patients from Eight Major Vitamin D Trials” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Published online ahead of print 5/17/12, jcem.endojournals.org
