LETTER
Calcium Supplements to Prevent Bone Loss
Stuart C. King
15 June 1994 | Volume 120 Issue 12 | Page 1047
TO THE EDITOR:
Although I found Aloia and colleagues' article [1] on calcium supplementation to prevent postmenopausal bone loss educational, I am concerned that the placebo group had a smoking pack-year mean of 18.6, compared with 12.5 and 12.8 pack-years for the calcium and hormone replacement groups, respectively. It is reasonably well documented that smoking is associated with osteoporosis [2, 3]. Although the authors found no statistical difference among the means, I am concerned that this difference could have artifically lowered the results of the placebo group, thus making calcium supplementation, with and without hormone replacement, appear more effective.
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Author and Article Information
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University of Illinois College of Medicine; Peoria, IL 6160
1. Aloia JF, Vaswani A, Yeh JK, Ross PL, Flaster E, Dilmanian FA. Calcium supplementation with and without hormone replacement therapy to prevent postmenopausal bone loss. Ann Intern Med. 1994; 120:97-103.
2. Daniell HW. Osteoporosis of the slender smoker: vertebral compression fractures and loss of metacarpal cortex in relation to postmenopausal cigarette smoking and lack of obesity. Arch Intern Med. 1976; 136:298-304.
3. Williams AR, Weiss NS, Ure CL, Ballard J, Daling JR. Effect of weight, smoking, and estrogen use on the risk of hip and forearm fractures in postmenopausal women. Obstet Gynecol. 1982; 60:695-9.
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