Study: Calcium Plus Vitamin D Supplementation Does Not Reduce Risk of Hip Fracture or Colorectal Cancer

19 Nov 2013 --- New results are in from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Calcium plus Vitamin D Supplementation Trial. These findings assess the effects on hip fracture and colorectal cancer incidence among 30,000 postmenopausal women nearly five years after the seven-year period of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation ended.

The results are presented in Journal of Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Journal of Women’s Health website.

Jane Cauley, DrPH and a large team of researchers from around the country report that after an average of 11 years, including seven years of supplementation with 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D3, neither hip fracture nor colorectal cancer incidence were reduced compared to women who did not receive supplementation. The authors report a small risk reduction for vertebral fractures and in situ breast cancers across the study period for women who received supplementation. They discuss the implications of these findings in the article “Calcium Plus Vitamin D Supplementation and Health Outcomes 5 Years After Active Intervention Ended: The Women's Health Initiative.”

“This post-intervention study from the WHI contributes new data on the long-term effects of calcium plus vitamin D supplementation on health outcomes,” says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women’s Health.