A significant study reveals that taking vitamin D pills daily does not prevent bone fractures, defying decades of medical recommendations to the contrary.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, discovered that supplement users had the same risk of bone fractures as those who did not.
Their findings contradict decades of medical advice advising patients to take supplements to enhance calcium absorption and strengthen bones. A third of U.S. adults over the age of 60 already take the pills daily.
Some scientists who were not involved in the study stated that it demonstrated that people shouldn’t be popping vitamins everywhere’ Others, however, cautioned that the study did not prove that those with osteoporosis should cease taking the vitamin.
The study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, recruited 26,000 participants from the general community.
It was not restricted to individuals with vitamin D deficiency, low bone density, or high fracture risk. At the onset of the study, however, testing revealed that thousands of participants had vitamin D levels that were deemed insufficient or insufficiently low.
The average age of the participants was 67 years and the gender distribution was nearly equal. Twenty percent were black, who may be more susceptible to low vitamin D levels because darker skin absorbs less sunlight, which is essential for vitamin D production.
In the study, participants were given daily vitamin D3 capsules. This type is utilized in numerous dietary supplements because it is more readily absorbed by the body.
They were then observed for five years and asked annually if they were still taking the medication or if they had suffered a fracture.
Half of the participants took supplements containing up to 800 international units (IUs) of vitamin D, the upper limit of the recommended daily allowance.
The remaining patients received a placebo.
There was no difference in the number of fractures documented between the two groups, according to the findings.
769 out of 12,927 subjects who received vitamin D developed fractures or six percent.
In addition, 782 out of 12,944 placebo recipients experienced fractures or six percent.
There were fractures in the pelvis, wrist, hips, and other locations.
Dr. Meryl LeBoff, a specialist in skeletal health who conducted the study, and her colleagues said in the publication, “Vitamin D3 supplementation did not result in a significantly lower incidence of fractures among generally healthy midlife and older persons compared to placebo.”
The study is the first large randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of vitamin D and represents the latest blow to claims that it can help strengthen bones in otherwise healthy persons.
The government-funded researchers were initially tasked with determining the optimal daily vitamin D consumption.
Since 2011, the National Academy of Medicine, which is now the National Institutes of Health, has recommended that patients take up to 800 IU of vitamin D per day to avoid bone fractures.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended vitamin D for bone health.
However, upon evaluation, the experts determined that the majority of research supporting vitamin D supplements was ‘inadequate,’ prompting them to question if the tablets are truly necessary.
Dr. Steven Cummings, a leading osteoporosis expert at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study that its findings should “lay to rest” the concept that vitamin D supplementation alone will prevent fractures.
“Providers should cease providing vitamin D supplements, and individuals should cease taking vitamin D supplements to prevent severe diseases or extend life,” he stated.
Numerous research has failed to demonstrate that vitamin D is beneficial for bone health throughout the years, resulting in contradictory findings on the supplements’ efficacy.
The most recent study is credible due to its huge sample size and good participant adherence.
However, research does not indicate if vitamin D-deficient individuals benefit from the pills.
Dr. Ethel Siris, an endocrinologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York who was not engaged in the research, stated that it had a significant influence.
She told NBC, ‘The conclusion is that individuals shouldn’t indiscriminately take vitamins. Vitamin D alone is not sufficient for preventing fractures.
However, adequate calcium and vitamin D intake remains a vital component of osteoporosis care, in my opinion.
