CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTATION AND BONE LOSS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

A two year, placebo-controlled, double-blind study compared daily supplementation with 500 mg calcium citrate malate or calcium carbonate in 361 early- or late-postmenopausal women on intakes above or below 400 mg per day. Early-postmenopausal women lost bone from the spine at -1.5% per year; supplementation had no effect. Late-postmenopausal subjects on high calcium intakes lost bone less rapidly, even on placebo. For those women on low intakes, calcium carbonate maintained bone density in the femoral neck and radius but not the spine; calcium citrate malate prevented loss from all three sites.