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Osteoporosis International
Published in: Osteoporosis International 12/2009

01-12-2009 | Letter

Comment on review by Nordin: “The effect of calcium supplementation on bone loss in 32 controlled trials in postmenopausal women”

Author: E. Seeman

Published in: Osteoporosis International | Issue 12/2009

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Excerpt

Professor Nordin suggests that calcium supplements reduce the rate of bone loss [1]. However, the reported ‘loss’ of −0.27%/year in the group supplemented with calcium is four-fold lower than that in controls (−1.07%/year)—a difference that is difficult to reconcile with the modest suppressive effects of calcium supplements on bone remodelling. The loss of bone mineral density (BMD), if calculated as (final − initial)/initial BMD underestimates the longer term loss in BMD in the calcium-supplemented subjects because it does not account for the transient perturbation of the steady state in remodelling of bone. …
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Reid IR, Mason B, Horne A, Ames R, Reid HE, Bava U et al (2006) Randomized controlled trial of calcium in healthy older women. Am J Med 119:777–785CrossRefPubMed
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E Seeman. Evidence that calcium supplements reduce fracture risk is lacking. CJASN 2009, in press
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Tang BMP, Eslick GD, Nowson C, Smith C, Bensoussan A (2007) Use of calcium or calcium in combination with vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures and bone loss in people aged 50 years and older: a meta-analysis. Lancet 370:657–666CrossRefPubMed
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Reid IR, Ames R, Mason B, Reid HE, Bacon CJ, Bolland M, Gamble GD, Grey A, Horne A (2008) Randomized controlled trial of calcium supplementation in healthy, nonosteoporotic, older men. Arch Intern Med 168(20):2276–2282CrossRefPubMed
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Benjamin MP, Tang BMP (2009) Do calcium supplementation really cause more hip fractures? (Letter to the Editor). Osteop Intern 20:833–834CrossRef
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Metadata
Title
Comment on review by Nordin: “The effect of calcium supplementation on bone loss in 32 controlled trials in postmenopausal women”
Author
E. Seeman
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Osteoporosis International / Issue 12/2009
Print ISSN: 0937-941X
Electronic ISSN: 1433-2965
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-009-1016-9

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