[Pharmboy]

Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the General Clinical Research Center program of the National Center for Research Resources, Department of Health and Human Services. The active study drug and placebo were supplied by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (Pittsburgh).

Methods We recruited 36,282 postmenopausal women, 50 to 79 years of age, who were already enrolled in a Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial. We randomly assigned participants to receive 1000 mg of elemental calcium as calcium carbonate with 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily or placebo. Fractures were ascertained for an average follow-up period of 7.0 years. Bone density was measured at three WHI centers.

[alieno nomine]

"recruited 36,282 postmenopausal women, 50 to 79 years of age"

Bone health is a life long event. The process of maintaining good bone health means living a healthy lifestyle and eating the "right" foods with good balance of vitamins and minerals. Supplementing Calcium after menopause will probably have little benefit at that late stage, but a good calcium diet throughout life will probably be more likely to preserve bone later in life, or slow the process of degeneration.