Older women who take calcium supplements to improve their bone health could be increasing their chances of heart attack by thirty percent, warn researchers in a novel study. The study data of eleven trails proposed that extra calcium could do more harm than good. Thousands of women take calcium supplements worldwide, prescribed by their doctors or as bone indemnity.
In a study survey more than twelve thousand people aged above forty took part who took calcium supplement of 500mg daily. Those taking calcium supplements had a greater chance of suffering a heart attack because extra calcium in the blood could lead to hardening of arteries. But calcium in the diet is safe.
The Food Standards Agency suggests adults have seven hundred mg of calcium per day that should come from dietary sources such as milk, cheese and green and leafy vegetables. People eating high-calcium diets were not at additional risk, said researchers from the universities of Aberdeen and Auckland, in New Zealand.
The majority of people should be able to acquire sufficient amount of calcium through their diets, rather than getting for the medicine cabinet, said the National Osteoporosis Society. The statistics recommend that calcium supplements only have partial benefits in preventing fractures, particularly when compared to other available treatments, said Dr Alison Avenell from the University of Aberdeen in New Zealand.
She added that it was a balance of risks. People should consider the risks and how they apply to their own conditions and converse the matter with their GP. The results of this study, principally with people aged over fifty do not necessarily apply to younger people with medical conditions that require calcium supplementation.
They had always suggested that people should aspire to get the calcium they required from their diet to help build stronger bones. If they got all the calcium they needed from their diet and adequate vitamin D from exposure to sunshine, and then calcium supplements would not be required, said Dr Claire Bowring from the National Osteoporosis Society.
She advised people taking osteoporosis treatments should not to stop taking calcium without seeing their GP.