Do Vitamin D Pills Help Blacks?
July 25, 2005 — New research shows no bone benefits for healthy postmenopausal black women who took vitamin D supplements for three years. The researchers don’t dismiss the vitamin pills. They don’t know if the results would be similar for women of other ethnic groups, elderly women, or those more severely lacking vitamin D. The researchers included John Aloia, MD, of the Bone Mineral Research Center at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. The study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Bone Background Strong bones are important throughout life. Bone density peaks at about age 30. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the critical years for building bone mass are from prior to adolescence to about age 30. Bones naturally thin as we age. The worst cases result in osteoporosis — thin, brittle bones that are more likely to break. Both men and women can develop osteoporosis or osteopenia, a milder condition that can lead to osteoporosis. Certain people are m
