Supplements work. (updates).(Brief Article)

Regular use of multivitamins and other key supplements promotes good health and helps prevent disease. While that's not news to people who have sworn by supplements for years, a report released in June 2002 by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) offers conclusive proof that these products do their jobs well.

"The medical and scientific communities are rapidly accumulating powerful evidence about the role of supplements in both health promotion and disease prevention," says the report's author Annette Dickinson, CRN's vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs.

Some of the report's findings:

* Supplementation with calcium and vitamin D could help reduce the rate of hip fracture among older people by at least 20 percent--resulting in 40,000 to 50,000 fewer hip fractures each year in the United States alone, and thereby saving $1.5 to $2 billion annually.

* Multivitamins will benefit most people, but different additional supplements should be chosen based on life stages, gender or lifestyle. For example, although calcium is good for everyone, it is ...