Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and height loss: findings from the Women's Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D clinical trial.

What Was Tested

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

The aim of this study was to determine the associations between calcium + vitamin D supplementation (vs placebo) and height loss in 36,282 participants of the Women's Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D trial.

Who Took Part

The study group was 36,282 participants.

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

How the Study Was Run

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

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

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

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

Height was measured annually (mean follow-up 5.9 y) with a stadiometer.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Body Height, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium, Dietary, Cholecalciferol, Dietary Supplements, Postmenopause and Proportional Hazards Models.

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 36,282 participants.

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

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2016 (Menopause (New York, N.Y.)), a journal based in United States.

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