Approximately 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, with an additional 33.6 million suffering from low bone density and increased risk for fractures, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Osteoporosis is the most common human bone disease, with fractures of the hip and vertebrae at the top of the list for contributing to decreased mobility, overall quality of life and premature death. Now, a recent study from the British Medical Journal linking calcium supplements to an increased risk for heart attack by as much as 30% has raised some concerns about calcium supplementation. 1200mg of calcium is recommended by doctors to prevent bone fractures and osteoporosis for women over the age of 50, this study comes as quite a shock. The resulting press coverage of the issue continues to alarm and confuse the aging population with recommendations that seem to contradict what their doctors have prescribed for years.
Before you throw out that bottle of Citrical, there is more to this study than meets the eye. In the September 2010 issue, the British Medical Journal study reviewed 11 studies involving a collective of over 12,000 women taking calcium supplements and noted an increased rate of heart disease. The researchers postulated that this increased calcification of arterial blood vessels was caused by calcium intake from nutritional supplements. What the study failed to mention was that all of the 11 studies involved taking calcium supplements as elemental calcium or unopposed calcium (i.e. without vitamin D). There are many studies involving calcium together with vitamin D that have no increased risk for heart disease, suggesting that calcium taken with a cofactor such as vitamin D is better absorbed into bone; not arteries. For example, a very large randomized trial, the Women’s Health Initiative, which involved 36,000 women taking a daily supplement of 1000mg of calcium with 400 IU of vitamin D indicated no increase in risk for heart disease or stroke (also linked to calcium levels in blood vessels). What’s more is that there are no studies linking calcium from dietary sources to increased heart disease, and in fact higher intakes of nonfat and low fat dairy products are associated with lower risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, among other conditions.
It should be noted, however, that taking more calcium than the doctor or nutritionist recommends, specifically above 2,000mg each day, can be harmful by disrupting the body’s natural balance of other bone-building and cardio-protective minerals, such as magnesium and potassium.
To view the study from the British Medical Journal in its entirety, please click on this link: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c3691.fullgooglef38be68eb3897b1d.html
