Heart Health
Another yellow light for calcium supplements
Millions of women and men take calcium pills to strengthen their bones and ward off osteoporosis. Whether taking calcium is good, neutral, or bad for the heart is a matter of conflicting studies and lively debate. Australian researchers have sounded another note of caution in a controversial paper they published in the medical journal BMJ.
The Australian team took a fresh look at data from the Women's Health Initiative Calcium–Vitamin D Supplementation Study. It randomized 36,282 women to a calcium–vitamin D supplement or to a placebo. The results of the trial, published in 2006, showed a small improvement in hip bone density but no effect on hip fracture. The researchers reported that the numbers of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems were the same in both groups.
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