Calcium heart attack

Calcium tablets can increase the risk of having a heart attack.

(31.07.2010) Older patients in particular take calcium tablets to strengthen the bones. But according to a New Zealand study, these calcium supplements can increase the risk of having a heart attack. Scientists published their findings in the journal British Medical Journal.

Calcium is good for the maintenance of bones. Above all, older patients take these calcium supplements also on the advice of the family doctor. But a recent study by researchers in the New Zealand „University of Auckland“ came to the realization that calcium tablets can obviously increase the risk of heart attack. For this reason, a treatment with the drugs in the disease osteoporosis should be rethought, the scientists.

A total of 12,000 subjects participated in the study. A total of eleven clinical trials were completed. One half of the study participants got Calcium tablets and the other half drug-free placebo. On the basis of the results it could be proven that with a regular intake of calcium tablets the heart attack risk rises on average by 30 per cent. This happens not only in elderly patients, but the result is independent of age, sex and nature of calcium supplements. "If 1000 people swallow calcium for five years," says Reid, "you can expect more than 14 heart attacks more than people who do not take calcium." commented Study Director Ian Reid.

Many people think that if they were taking calcium tablets, it would be a very "natural process". Such tablets are not "natural," as Reid says. For anyway, vitamin and mineral supplements have long been controversial. Although it has been shown that calcium tablets actually increase bone density, they can trigger heart attacks in contrast. "If 1000 people swallow calcium for five years, you can expect about 14 heart attacks more than those who do not take calcium," says researcher Reid.

Still, the exact circumstances are not quite proven. Although calcium increases bone density, it is believed that higher levels of calcium in the blood can cause lasting damage to the heart. Because after taking calcium supplements, the calcium levels in the blood rise to the highest level in the normal range within six hours. Plaques may form in the blood, causing calcification. It can not only come to heart attacks, but also to strokes and coronary heart disease. This does not happen when you take in calcium normally through your diet. Then the calcium will slowly release to the body.

Again and again, the question arises, why more and more people resort to such preparations. One reason for this may be that the food industry and drug makers want to make consumers aware that vitamin and mineral supplements are good for your health. Calcium can be found in many natural foods. For example, in brown rice, apples, bananas, cabbage, potatoes, tofu and of course in milk. An unhealthy way of life and way can not be compensated by preparations. Rather, it is important to eat a balanced and healthy diet. That would be a sensible prevention of diseases such as osteoporosis. (Sb)

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