Do seniors maintain strong bones after they stop taking calcium and vitamin D supplements? Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston asked this question.
Their original study found that men and women over 65 who took extra calcium and vitamin D daily for three years either gained or retained bone throughout the body and specifically in the spine and hip, two areas prone to fracture in elders. Their follow-up study revealed that the gains from taking the supplements didn't last.
Two years after the volunteers stopped taking the required 500 milligrams of calcium and 700 International Units of vitamin D daily, they had lost any supplement-related benefits to the spine and hip.
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