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Healthy older women should not take daily low doses of vitamin D and calcium to prevent fractures, an expert panel says. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued the advice. This is an independent group that provides advice to doctors and the government on preventive care. The group reviewed 19 studies involving women who were past menopause. They were randomly divided into groups. Some women received vitamin D and calcium pills daily. Others received placebo (fake) pills. The doses given varied. The task force found no reduction in fracture risk for women taking up 400 international units of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily. Past studies also have suggested a higher risk of kidney stones for women taking these pills. Some experts have recommended even higher doses for older women.

Injections of a shock-absorbing substance don’t help arthritic knees very much, if at all, a review of research has found. The review focused on viscosupplementation. The treatment involves injections of hyaluronate. This is a synthetic version of a shock absorber found in joints. The research review focused on 89 studies. They included a total of 12,667 people with severe osteoarthritis in the knees. Some received injections of hyaluronate. Others got either placebo (fake) injections or no treatment. Overall, the review found, there was little reduction of pain for people who got the real injections. There was no improvement in knee function. Some of the studies also found an increased risk of side effects. These included “flare-ups” of pain and inflammation in the knee. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it June 11.