N Engl J Med 2022 Jul;387(4):299-309
From the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension (M.S.L., S.H.C., K.A.R.), the Division of Preventive Medicine (N.R.C., E.K., I.-M.L., J.E.B., J.E.M.), and the Department of Radiology (B.K.), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (M.S.L., S.H.C., N.R.C., B.K., I.-M.L., J.E.B., J.E.M.), and the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (N.R.C., I.-M.L., J.E.B., J.E.M.) - all in Boston; California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (P.M.C.), and the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (P.M.C., D.C.B., D.B.) and Medicine (D.C.B.), University of California, San Francisco - both in San Francisco; and the Department of Endocrinology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE (J.C.G.).
Background: Vitamin D supplements are widely recommended for bone health in the general population, but data on whether they prevent fractures have been inconsistent.
Methods: In an ancillary study of the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL), we tested whether supplemental vitamin D would result in a lower risk of fractures than placebo. VITAL was a two-by-two factorial, randomized, controlled trial that investigated whether supplemental vitamin D (2000 IU per day), n-3 fatty acids (1 g per day), or both would prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease in men 50 years of age or older and women 55 years of age or older in the United States. Read More