Study Shows Limited Benefits From Calcium
By JEFF DONN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Feb 16, 3:35 AM ET

BOSTON - The latest news about calcium and vitamin D may not look so encouraging, but most experts say the take-home message is the same: Keep taking your pills.

The biggest study ever to examine the value of the supplements suggests they convey only limited protection against broken bones. They failed to protect against most fractures in the mostly low-risk women, but seemed to offer some benefit against hip breaks among women over 60 and those who took the pills most faithfully.

The outcome could affect an enormous number of people, since an estimated 10 million Americans have break-prone bones thanks to osteoporosis. One of two women will suffer such a fracture in her lifetime.

Doctors, who have long taken the value of these supplements almost as an article of faith, tried to put the findings as positively as possible.

"We still do believe ... that maintaining an adequate calcium intake will lay the foundation for bone health," said lead author Dr. Rebecca Jackson at Ohio State University. The rest