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A UK study shows that taking vitamin D just four times a year signifcantly reduces the risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture. Nothing whets the appetite of pharmaceutical companies and generates alarm in the Federal Treasury more than a common disease. If you find a good medication then it can be an Eldorado - but someone has to pay and it's usually us, the taxpayers. And so it is with osteoporosis - thinning bones with age. A lot of people are going to get it, suffer fractures and become disabled as a result. But there are so many with thinning bones that it will be impossibly expensive to treat everyone. So are there cheap and effective ways of preventing bone loss? Vitamin D helps to build calcium into bones but the story hasn't been clear whether it's worth taking if you're otherwise healthy. So nearly 2700 men and women in Britain aged over 65 were given Vitamin D or a placebo four times a year for five years. Yes, just four times a year. It was safe, and there were significant reductions in the risk of fractures in those taking the active capsules. There was also a trend to lower death rates. To help decide whether it's worth doing, the figures translate to 250 people having to take Vitamin D once every three months for a year for one fracture to be prevented.
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