Vitamin doses cut break risk

Daily vitamin D supplementation prevents fractures in the elderly, but only in higher doses, Tufts University researchers said.

Using data from 11 randomized trials, researchers divided participants into quartiles based on vitamin D intake. They found there was a 30% reduction in hip fracture risk and a 14% reduced risk of fracturing other bones for participants who took the most of the vitamin.

“There was no benefit to taking vitamin D supplements in doses below 800 IUs per day for fracture prevention,” wrote Tufts professor Bess Dawson-Hughes, M.D.

The study was in July’s New England Journal of Medicine.