The Value Of Calcium And Vitamin D Supplements Questioned

How dare they!

Prescribing calcium and vitamin D supplements for men at risk of bone loss from hormonal treatment for prostate cancer seems like good medicine.

But new research from epidemiologists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center showed that this type of supplementation did not prevent bone loss and, in fact, may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and aggressive prostate cancer. The study was published online in the July issue of the journal The Oncologist.

"It wouldn't be so bad if there simply was no obvious benefit," said Gary G. Schwartz, Ph.D., who is a nationally-recognized prostate cancer epidemiologist at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study. "The problem is that there is evidence that calcium supplements increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and aggressive prostate cancer, the very disease that we are trying to treat."

Don't they know that the cure du jour fixes everything?