This study was a "randomized population-based open trial." The group in this study (287 women) received cholecalciferol 800 IU plus calcium 1,000 mg for 3 years. The women were all between the ages of 66 to 71 years. The "control group" (306 women) received nothing, no vitamins or calcium. The authors of this article assert in a "working hypothesis" that "daily vitamin D and calcium supplementation have a positive effect on the skeleton in ambulatory postmenopausal women" (Karkkainen, p. 1).

The total body bone density mass increased "significantly more in the intervention group than in the control group," the author conclude, and hence the evidence shows that by taking Vitamin D daily -- and by taking calcium as well -- can have a positive effect on the skeleton, for women who are postmenopausal.

Osteoporosis in Younger Women: In her book, Women's Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Nadya Swedan explains that some young females athletes struggle with osteoporosis due to "inadequate bone formation" or due do "premature los of bone mass" (Swedan, 2001, p. 289). Many amenorrheic female athletes (those who do not have menstrual periods) that are early twenties or late teens "are not building peak bone mass" during that time in their lives. They are considered potential sufferers of osteoporosis, Swedan explains. These young women have an increased risk for "stress fractures" and even more "devastating factures" of the spine or the hip (p. 289). If she has "secondary amenorrhea," she could actually have a decline in bone density that Swedan claims is very much like the lost of bone density in "postmenopausal...

289).
For those younger athletes, if they receiving "estrogen replacement with oral contraceptive pills" they can recover the bone density they need and perhaps avoid the pain of osteoporosis, Swedan writes on page 290. However, when the young woman exercises vigorously, she can "modulate" her bones' health because that exercise is a "mechanical stimulus for osteogenesis" (p. 291). That said, too much exercise that is not matched with healthy eating habits can cause a loss of bone density. One thing that is likely to contribute to loss of bone density, and hence, to osteoporosis, is when young female athletes have eating disorders, according to Swedan on page 291.

Conclusion: Since doctors, researchers and other healthcare professionals know what causes osteoporosis, and know how to help women through supplemental vitamins, there should be a massive public service campaign alerting the public about these findings. Older people suffer a great deal with broken bones and their bodies don't heal as fast as young people's bodies do. This is a serious health problem for society, and everything possible should be done to prevent it or at least help those who are stricken with it.

Works Cited

Karkkainen, M., Tuppurainen, M., and Salovaara, K. (2010). Osteoporosis Int: effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone mineral density in women aged 65-71

years: a 3-year randomized population-based trial. Alternative Medicine Review, 15(2),

175. Retrieved from General OneFile.

Lubna. (2010). A survey of osteoporosis risk…