Vitamin D supplements do not increase bone strength or reduce the risk of fractures in children with vitamin D deficiency. These results were achieved by scientists from Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health. Research results published In Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
In the study, researchers instructed more than 8,000 schoolchildren ages 6 to 13, living in Mongolia, a region with particularly high fracture rates and where vitamin D deficiency is common, to take vitamin D supplements for three years. At the beginning of the research, it was noted that 95.5 percent of the subjects were deficient in this substance in their bodies.
At the end of the intervention period, the researchers updated some of the subjects’ health data and assessed their bone strength using ultrasound. It turns out that taking the supplement had no effect on children’s and adolescents’ bone strength or potential fracture risk. Moreover, during a three-year experiment, the deficiency of this substance in the body was corrected.
The researchers suggested that the lack of benefit may be due to the participants not taking calcium along with vitamin D.
It was also noted that children who were found to have rickets during the screening for participation in the study were excluded from participation on the grounds that it would be unethical to give placebo. Therefore, the results are only valid for children with low vitamin D levels and no complications.
Having previously taken vitamin D and excessive calcium brought to death in a man.