Effect of disodium monofluorophosphate, calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone mineral density in patients chronically treated with glucocorticosteroids: a prospective, randomized, double-blind study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

An additional group of 14 renal transplant patients treated chronically with glucocorticosteroids but exempt of specific therapeutic intervention for bone disease was set up as historical controls.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 15 subjects were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and double-blind study.

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

Neither the subjects nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, Hologic QDR 1000) performed at months 0, 6 and 12 for groups 1 and 2 (lumbar spine, total upper femur, diaphysis and epiphysis of distal tibia), or 11-31 months apart with calculation of linear yearly changes for the historical cohort.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Absorptiometry, Photon, Bone Density, Bone Diseases, Metabolic, Calcifediol, Calcium, Fluorides and Glucocorticoids.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 15 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1996 (Mineral and electrolyte metabolism), a journal based in Switzerland.

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