Quick Dips

Strengthening Medicine

A team led by Dr Ian Reid of the Auckland School of Medicine has found that large doses of calcium considerably slow the onset of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis, a thinning and weakening of the bones, strikes 25% of women before they reach 70. Sufferers are especially prone to fractures of the hip and spine. The researchers studied 135 postmenopausal women and discovered that an increase in dietary calcium from 750 to 1750 mg per day approximately halved the average loss of bone mineral density. Bones in different parts of the body showed different degrees of response.

"Our work is the first to demonstrate conclusively the benefits of taking extra calcium," says Reid, whose findings were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. He notes that the extra calcium does not actually cure the condition. By delaying its onset, though, the treatment will preserve many older women's enjoyment of life for a considerable time.