Effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone mineral density in women aged 65-71 years: a 3-year randomized population-based trial (OSTPRE-FPS).

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 3,432 women were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as older adults, women only.

The OSTPRE-FPS was a randomized population-based open trial with a 3-year follow-up in 3,432 women (aged 66 to 71 years).

A randomly selected subsample of 593 subjects underwent BMD measurements.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

The women were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Bone Density, Bone Density Conservation Agents, Calcium, Cholecalciferol, Dietary Supplements, Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 3,432 women.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2010 (Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.