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

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.

About the Journal

Journal of Women’s Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women’s healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women’s Health website. Journal of Women’s Health is the Official Journal of the Academy of Women’s Health and the Society for Women’s Health Research.

About the Academy
Academy of Women’s Health is an interdisciplinary, international association of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work across the broad field of women’s health, providing its members with up-to-date advances and options in clinical care that will enable the best outcomes for their women patients. The Academy’s focus includes the dissemination of translational research and evidence-based practices for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of women across the lifespan.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Population Health Management, Journal of Men’s Health, Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, and Breastfeeding Medicine. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.