A meta-analysis is a review of several earlier research studies to analyze the results. One such analysis appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Dec. 2007, Vol. 86, No. 6, pp 1579-1580) found that calcium supplements offer no protection from hip fracture. The Harvard researchers looked at seven studies involving over 170,000 women with nearly 3000 documented hip fractures and five studies involving over 68,000 men with over 200 documented hip fractures and found that 300 mg. per day of calcium offered no benefit for the prevention of fractures. Even in clinical trials where the calcium dose was between 800 and 1600 mg. per day, no significant reduction in hip fracture or other non-vertebral fracture was found. Adding vitamin D to the calcium does seem to help to reduce the instance of fracture.
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