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Article: Calcium and vitamin D nutritional needs of elderly women
- Article from:
- The Journal of Nutrition
- Article date:
- April 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Institute of Nutrition Apr 1996. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Increasing peak bone mass and retarding age-related bone loss will have a favorable impact on osteoporotic fracture rates. With the loss of estrogen at menopause, women lose bone mineral very rapidly (3% per year) for about 5 years and then lose more slowly (1% per year) thereafter. Many factors affect the rate of bone loss including heredity, physical activity, smoking and calcium and vitamin D nutritional status. Here I will address changes in calcium homeostasis that occur with aging and how they appear to influence the calcium and vitamin D intakes needed to minimize bone loss in postmenopausal women. Most of the information on the bone response to changes in dietary calcium and vitamin ...