Calcium Supplements Increase Risk of Heart Attack

PARIS (AFP) – Ordinary calcium supplements taken by the elderly to strengthen bones may boost the risk of heart attacks, according to a study released Friday.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, suggest that the role of calcium in the treatment of osteoporosis should be reconsidered, the researchers said.

To investigate further, an international team of researchers led by Ian Reid of the University of Auckland in New Zealand reviewed 11 separate clinical trials involving 12,000 patients.

They found that calcium supplements were associated with about a 30 percent jump in heart attack risk.

The link was consistent across trials and was independent of age, sex, and type of supplement.

Previous studies have found that upping calcium intake through changes in diet does not increase cardiovascular problems, suggesting that the risks are restricted to supplements.

In a commentary, John Cleland of the University of Hull and colleagues point out that -- regardless of possible impacts on heart attack rates -- calcium supplements are probably not very efficient in reducing fractures in any case.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100730/ts_afp/healthdiseaseheartcalcium_20100730091935

Fri Jul 30, 2010

HIp2bfit Guy Comments: First I just posted the main points of the above article. To read it in it's entirety go to the above link. The article as most news articles are,  is a little short on all the facts. To get a perfect idea of the findings we'd need a lot more information about the type of testings and findings. Details make all the difference. Having said that, I do agree that vitamins in minerals usually are taken best in food form, but not necessarily always. Anytime you can get a vitamin or mineral naturally, then that's the way to go, but sometimes it may not be completely feasible. Take for instance a person wanting to get fish oil on a daily basis, but not wanting to take a chance on getting mercury commonly found in fish these days. The current wisdom is that fish oil supplementation provides a much cleaner fish oil to provide Omega-3 fatty acids for your diet. Even safer still are krill supplements because krill are so low on the food chain they don't have a chance of eating other species that might contain heavy metals and toxins.

Back to the calcium problem. It is common knowledge these days that a person needs vitamin k and vitamin D to help calcium along. The article doesn't tell us if the persons involved got their daily amounts of either. Failing to get enough D alone could cause calcium to harden in the arteries. So we may never know what would have happened had the participants in the study had been taking vitamin K supplements along with vitamn D supplements, for example. Again, it's a wise move to consider carefully when you take any supplement. If you are in the sun everyday for instance you probably don't need a vitamin D supplement. Another thing to mention about the article I've read in the past for example in the Understanding Nutrition Eleventh Edition textbook that the elderly are more prone to lacking in vitamin D thanks to the fact they rarely go outside, and when they do they cover up or use sunscreen every time.

Articles

Osteoporosis facts and prevention for women and men
To prevent osteoporosis weight lifting, resistance training, and getting calcium and vitamin D is crucial.