Effect of vitamin D supplementation alone on muscle function in postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

What Was Tested

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

The researchers aimed to evaluate the effect of supplementation of vitamin D (VITD) alone on muscle function in younger postmenopausal women.

Why It Was Studied

The present study investigates the effects of vitamin D on muscle function in postmenopausal women.

Who Took Part

The study group was 160 women.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

Women with amenorrhea for more than 12 months and age 50-65 years, with a history of falls (previous 12 months), were included.

The intervention time was 9 months, with assessments at two points, start and end.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

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

As a double-blind Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some women received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Lean mass was estimated by total-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and muscle strength by handgrip strength and chair rising test.

The plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Statistical analysis was by intention to treat (ITT), using ANOVA, Student's t test, and Tukey's test.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Anthropometry, Cholecalciferol, Dietary Supplements, Hand Strength, Muscle Strength, Postmenopause and Sarcopenia.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Lean mass, Muscle function and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 160 women.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2015 (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.