Wednesday, September 30, 2026 | Edition 197 | Item #3

That’s true for Social Security and for bone health as well. Bone health is a particularly important issue as we age:  roughly 30% of adults aged 65 and older fall each year, and those falls can lead to fractures, chronic pain, loss of independence, and reduced quality of life. Finding effective ways to prevent falls and fractures is a critical public health issue.

Many older adults take calcium and vitamin D supplements to strengthen bone health but a new study from Canada has found that those supplements do little to reduce the risk of fractures. The researchers examined 69 randomized controlled trials involving 153,902 adults to get a clearer picture of whether supplements would help reduce the risk of fractures. But they found little to no evidence of meaningful benefits from calcium supplements, Vitamin D supplements or the two supplements working together.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are research proven ways to reduce the risks of falls and fractures.  The researchers suggested greater attention and investment into programs that provide balance training and resistance exercise, which can help improve strength, stability, and physical function.

Programs that combine several approaches may also be useful. These can include exercise, assessment of hazards that could contribute to falls, and education tailored to a person's individual risk.