High supplemental calcium linked with risk of heart disease


Calcium supplementation becomes one of the daily nutritional supplements of elderly people, just because of its bone health promoting property. However, most people are unaware of the calcium supplement’s dark side. Several research studies suggested high doses of calcium supplements can cause heart diseases. Actually, most of the elderly people are being unaware about these side effects, and taking calcium supplements without consulting a healthcare provider. 

The study suggested that supplemental calcium do not cause heart diseases in women, and dietary calcium is not associated with incidences of CVD in both sexes. 

A team of US scientists evaluated a large number of population involving more than 388000 participants, both sexes aged between 50-71 years. The study results found supplemental calcium but not dietary calcium caused increased incidences of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in men. However, the effect was not observed in women participants. 

The researchers suggested for further studies to explore the links between sex differences, calcium supplements and risk of CVD. Apart from bone health, it is important to assess the other effects of the supplement, the researchers wrote in the publication. 

The study participants were followed-up over a period of twelve years, and nearly 7904 male and 3874 female CVD-related mortalities were reported. Among them, around 51% men and 70% women were on calcium supplementation.

When compared to non-takers, men taking more than 1 gm of daily calcium supplementation are prone to CVD risk and death. However, no risk of stroke-related events was observed in men.  

The study results were published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).

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