There is high quality evidence that vitamin D plus calcium is associated with a statistically significant reduction in incidence of new non-vertebral fractures .
Vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fractures in the doses and formulations tested so far in older people .
Supplements of vitamin D and calcium may prevent hip or any type of fracture .
There was a small but significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms and renal disease associated with vitamin D and calcium .
This review found that there was no increased risk of death from taking calcium and vitamin
BACKGROUND Vitamin D and related compounds have been used to prevent  osteoporotic fractures in older people .
This is the third up date of a Cochrane review first published in 1996 .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of vitamin D or related compounds , with or without calcium , for preventing  fractures in post-menopausal women and older men .
Does 1,25(OH)2D3 accelerate spinal bone loss? A controlled therapeutic trial in 70-year-old women.
The progress of spinal bone loss was monitored by measurements of the vertebral body height of T6 to L5 in seventy 70-year-old women who participated in a controlled , double-blind therapeutic trial . They were treated for one year by 1,25(OH)2D3 , 0.50 micrograms a day ( or less if hypercalcemia occurred ) and cyclical estrogen/gestagen , alone or combined , or placebo . Sufficient calcium intake was ensured in all . The vertebral body height decreased significantly , by 1 % , in both of the 1,25(OH)2D3 groups , whereas it remained unchanged in the hormone and the placebo + calcium group . This observation does not encourage the use of 1,25(OH)2D3 for prevention or treatment of postmenopausal bone loss
There is high quality evidence that vitamin D plus calcium is associated with a statistically significant reduction in incidence of new non-vertebral fractures .
Vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fractures in the doses and formulations tested so far in older people .
Supplements of vitamin D and calcium may prevent hip or any type of fracture .
There was a small but significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms and renal disease associated with vitamin D and calcium .
This review found that there was no increased risk of death from taking calcium and vitamin
BACKGROUND Vitamin D and related compounds have been used to prevent  osteoporotic fractures in older people .
This is the third up date of a Cochrane review first published in 1996 .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of vitamin D or related compounds , with or without calcium , for preventing  fractures in post-menopausal women and older men .