Calcium Supplements Do Not Up Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Study

A new study debunks previous claims that calcium supplements up the risk of cardiovascular diseases in women.

Calcium supplements are widely used to combat age related drop in bone mineral density that leads to fractures.  Those at the risk of calcium deficiency or those at risk of osteoporosis take calcium supplements. But inrecent years, a few studies have highlighted a correlation between intake of calcium supplements and cardiovascular disease, but most of them were inconclusive.

Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in their latest finding suggest that calcium supplements do not increase risk of cardiovascular diseases in healthy women.

In this study the researchers looked at the use of calcium supplements and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease in a cohort study that included over 74,245 women, who were  a part of the Nurses Health Study.  None of the study participants had any history of cardiovascular diseases or cancer before the start of the study.   The participants were followed for 24 years to report the risk of developing heart attack and stroke.  Every four years, the subject's intake of calcium supplements was assessed.

"Our study has several distinct strengths compared to prior studies including the large number of participants, long-term follow-up, large number of cardiovascular events that were confirmed by medical record review, detailed information about diet and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, and repeated assessment of calcium supplement use over the 24-year follow up period," said Julie Paik, MD, MPH, BWH Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, lead study author.

Researchers noticed that at the beginning of the study those women who took calcium supplements had higher levels of physical activity and also smoked less. They had less trans fat when compared to women who did not takecalcium supplements.

During the 24 year follow up study, nearly 2,709 heart attacks and 1,856 strokes were documented.

"Based on our findings, additional prospective cohort studies examining potential cardiovascular disease risk associated with calcium supplement use are needed," said Paik. "Future randomized trials of calcium supplementation, if conducted, should be designed to optimize assessment of cardiovascular events."

The study was reported in Osteoporosis International.