Recent studies have indicated that Vitamin D supplements which are usually taken to improve the bones are irrelevant and have advised that health professionals should discontinue giving them to patients.
For a long time, vitamin D has been related to reducing the risk of osteoporosis (a condition in which bones become weak or brittle) and hypertension.
However, the authors of the research have said that there is “little justification” when it comes to bone health.
The lead author, Dr Mark J. Bolland who is an associate professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand stated that, “Our meta-analysis finds that vitamin D does not prevent fractures, falls or improve bone mineral density, whether at high or low dose.”
The research examined data from 81 trials which involved more than 53,000 people to study whether vitamin D supplement helped in fractures, falls or bone density. And the study used women over the age of 65.
The study inferred that vitamin D does not prevent fractures or falls, or have a significant effect on bone mineral density, concluding that there is little reason in taking them to “maintain or improve musculoskeletal health.”
But the research also concludes the supplement is helpful in preventing rare conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia in high risk groups, which can arise after an extended lack of exposure to sunshine, causing deficiency.
There is a current debate that says that the study is inconclusive. “The report included all available trials of vitamin D, but such trials included too few participants, used an insufficient dose of vitamin D, and had an insufficient duration of treatment,” said Dr Robert Clarke, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Oxford.
