Ethics in Medicine

Calcium, No Longer Recommended

Kristen Sparrow • June 13, 2012

I’m personally happy about this, since I never could figure out a good way to take the Calcium.  The chewables left a sugary taste and the regular pills were hard to digest.  So the bottom line of the article is that you get enough from food. Yay!  But don’t forget your weight bearing exercise!! This advise does not apply to women with osteoporosis.

June 12, 2012
Healthy Women Advised Not to Take Calcium and Vitamin D to Prevent Fractures
By GINA KOLATA

The United States Preventive Services Task Force, an influential group that recently recommended against routine P.S.A. tests to detect prostate cancer, issued a draft statement on Tuesday recommending that healthy postmenopausal women should not take low doses of calcium or vitamin D supplements to prevent fractures…
Dr. Ethel Siris, who directs Columbia University’s osteoporosis center, said she and other osteoporosis experts already knew the supplements did not prevent fractures.
“Vitamin D and calcium are part of a healthy diet,” Dr. Bibbins-Domingo said. “Most people can achieve sufficient doses with a healthy diet.”