Low-dose vitamin D to stop breaks gets thumbs-down

Postmenopausal women shouldn't take low doses of vitamin D and calcium to prevent broken bones, a government-backed expert panel said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which makes recommendations on a range of prevention issues, said studies of the supplements suggest they do little to prevent fractures at doses lower than 400 IU of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily. But it is clear that they come with a slightly increased risk of certain side effects, including kidney stones.

The recommendations are still in draft form and will be available for public comment on the USPSTF's website for about a month before they are finalized.

For higher doses of the supplements, the evidence is still too limited to make recommendations either way, the panel found. The same is true for cancer prevention, it said.

Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a member of the panel and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said it's important for people to know that the new recommendation only applies to postmenopausal women and those taking supplements.

Preventing Broken Bones

Bones are tough and resilient, but if you push them hard enough- if you fall on a hard surface, for instance- they can crack or break. Common sense and certain safety precautions, however, can head off a trip to the emergency room.

The CDC and other experts offer these safety tips to help prevent broken bones:

- Wear the right gear when exercising or playing a sport.

- Make sure your home is safe from hazards that can cause falls.

- Wear a seat belt when driving and make sure children are secured in safety seats or booster seats, depending on their age.

- Build up strong bones with good nutrition and exercise. Strong bones are less prone to fractures.

- Stay in good physical shape, because exercise increases muscle strength and reflex speed.

- Keep your weight in a healthy range.

These basic precautions can help prevent many of the common bone breaks that show up in hospital emergency rooms every day: wrists and ankles in young or middle-aged people, hips and wrists in older adults.

Sharpening your protective responses, such as reflexes or postural changes, may help stop or break a fall. For instance, when you put your hands out to break a fall, you land on the heel of your hand. The hands absorb the flat impact and the wrist bends as it absorbs the force, resulting in a fracture. And although this may result in a wrist fracture, it is much better than a potentially life threatening hip fracture - especially in the elderly.