Monday, June 18, 2012

Vitimin D with Calcium Reduces Mortality





One problem that I have with these studies is that they naturally select for individuals who are serious about their health and we all know that does not stop at taking vitamin D exclusively. Check out my supplement cabinet : - )

Otherwise it appears that calcium supplementation is not quite the waste of time that has recently been drummed about.

We need to obviously pay attention to the form we receive and milk for most is obvious. After that nuts, beans and the cabbage family are solid calcium sources. Tofu is made with calcium citrate and that makes it an excellent source of the non food calcium.

Looking at that list, it is clear that I will not be suffering from a calcium shortage anytime soon.

The arguments for and against mineral calcium are suspect at best and simple food choices provide ample intake anyway.

Vitamin D with Calcium Shown to Reduce Mortality in Elderly

6/15/2012

Source: Endocrine Society

Study shows vitamin D and calcium reduce mortality but not vitamin D alone



Newswise — Chevy Chase, MD— A study recently published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) suggests that vitamin D—when taken with calcium—can reduce the rate of mortality in seniors, therefore providing a possible means of increasing life expectancy.

During the last decade, there has been increasing recognition of the potential health effects of vitamin D. It is well known that calcium with vitamin D supplements reduces the risk of fractures. The present study assessed mortality among patients randomized to either vitamin D alone or vitamin D with calcium. The findings from the study found that the reduced mortality was not due to a lower number of fractures, but represents a beneficial effect beyond the reduced fracture risk.

This is the largest study ever performed on effects of calcium and vitamin D on mortality,” said Lars Rejnmark, PhD, of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and lead author of the study. “Our results showed reduced mortality in elderly patients using vitamin D supplements in combination with calcium, but these results were not found in patients on vitamin D alone.”

In this study, researchers used pooled data from eight randomized controlled trials with more than 1,000 participants each. The patient data set was comprised of nearly 90 percent women, with a median age of 70 years. During the three-year study, death was reduced by 9 percent in those treated with vitamin D with calcium.

Some studies have suggested calcium (with or without vitamin D) supplements can have adverse effects on cardiovascular health,” said Rejnmark. “Although our study does not rule out such effects, we found that calcium with vitamin D supplementation to elderly participants is overall not harmful to survival, and may have beneficial effects on general health”.

Other researchers participating in the study were Alison Avenell, Tahir Masud, Frazer Anderson, Haakon E. Meyer, Kerrie M. Sanders, Kari Salovaara, Cyrus Cooper, Helen E. Smith, Elizabeth. T. Jacobs, David Torgerson, Rebecca D. Jackson, JoAnn E. Manson, Kim Brixen, Leif Mosekilde, John A. Robbins, Roger M. Francis, and Bo Abrahamsen.

The article “Vitamin D with calcium reduces mortality: patient level pooled analysis of 70,528 patients from eight major vitamin D trials”, appears in the August 2012 issue of JCEM.

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Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society’s membership consists of over 15,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endo-society.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.

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