This study was a "randomized population-based open trial."

The group in this study (287 women) received cholecalciferol 800 IU plus calcium 1,000 mg for 3 years. The women were all between the ages of 66 to 71 years. The "control group" (306 women) received nothing, no vitamins or calcium. The authors of this article assert in a "working hypothesis" that "daily vitamin D and calcium supplementation have a positive effect on the skeleton in ambulatory postmenopausal women" (Karkkainen, p. 1).

The total body bone density mass increased "significantly more in the intervention group than in the control group," the author conclude, and hence the evidence shows that by taking Vitamin D daily -- and by taking calcium as well -- can have a positive effect on the skeleton, for women who are postmenopausal.

Osteoporosis in Younger Women: In her book, Women's Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Nadya Swedan explains that some...
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