Calcium supplements  increased BMD by 0.7 - 1.8 % at all five skeletal sites at one , two , and over two and a half years , but the size of the increase in BMD at later time points was similar to the increase at one year .
Increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking calcium supplements produces small non-progressive increases in BMD , which are unlikely to lead to a clinical ly significant reduction in risk of fracture
OBJECTIVE To determine whether increasing calcium intake from dietary sources affects  bone mineral density ( BMD ) and , if so , whether the effects are similar to those of calcium supplements .
Correcting calcium nutritional deficiency prevents spine fractures in elderly women.
We tested the spine antifracture and bone sparing efficacy of 1.2 g/day of oral calcium as carbonate in two groups of elderly women , one with prevalent fractures ( PF , n = 94 ) on entry and the other without ( NPF , n = 103 ) . It was a prospect i ve r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled trial in mostly rural communities in women over age 60 who were living independently and were consuming < 1 g/day of calcium .  We obtained annual lateral spine radiographs  and semiannual forearm bone density  over 4.3 + /- 1.1 years and determined vertebral fractures by radiographic morphometry augmented by physician assessment . In the PF group , 15 of 53 subjects on calcium had incident fractures , compared with 21 of 41 on placebo ( p = 0.023 , chi2 ) . Calcium did not reduce the rate of incident fractures in the NPF group . Those with a prevalent fracture on entry and not treated with calcium were 2.8 times more likely to experience an incident fracture than all others . Change in the forearm bone mass on placebo in the PF group was -1.24 + /- 2.41%/year compared with + 0.31 + /- 1.80%/year on calcium ( p < 0.001 ) . In the NPF group , the difference was less : -0.39 + /- 2.08%/year versus 0.00 + /- 1.64%/year ( p = 0.2 ) . We conclude that in elderly postmenopausal women with spine fractures and selfselected calcium intakes of < 1 g/day , a calcium supplement of 1.2 g/day reduces the incidence of spine fractures and halts measurable bone loss
Calcium supplements  increased BMD by 0.7 - 1.8 % at all five skeletal sites at one , two , and over two and a half years , but the size of the increase in BMD at later time points was similar to the increase at one year .
Increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking calcium supplements produces small non-progressive increases in BMD , which are unlikely to lead to a clinical ly significant reduction in risk of fracture
OBJECTIVE To determine whether increasing calcium intake from dietary sources affects  bone mineral density ( BMD ) and , if so , whether the effects are similar to those of calcium supplements .