Effect of low‐dose calcium supplements on bone loss in perimenopausal and postmenopausal Asian women: A randomized controlled trial

Study answer

What this study found

Calcium 500 mg/day slowed lumbar spine bone loss over 2 years, while the 250 mg/day dose showed less consistent benefit. Intention-to-treat lumbar spine BMD change was −0.029 g/cm2 (−3.0%) with 500 mg/day, −0.034 g/cm2 (−3.7%) with 250 mg/day, and −0.040 g/cm2 (−4.2%) with placebo; the 500 mg/day group differed from placebo (p = 0.027), but the 250 mg/day group did not (p = 0.321). Femoral neck BMD change was not significantly different from placebo for either dose: −0.028 g/cm2 (−3.9%) for 500 mg/day, p = 0.156, and −0.037 g/cm2 (−5.3%) for 250 mg/day, p = 0.565. The 500 mg/day and 250…

Study & population

This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy Japanese women aged 50–75 years who were perimenopausal or postmenopausal and had habitually low calcium intake.

Intervention

The active intervention was oral calcium carbonate given daily with meals for 2 years.

Key limitation

The trial was limited to Japanese women with low habitual calcium intake, which narrows generalizability.

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Original abstract