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Do Calcium Supplements Increase Heart Attack Risk In Women?

A New Zealand study suggests that the calcium supplements often prescribed to post-menopausal women to boost bone density may also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. University of Auckland researchers analyzed data from a study on bone density in which nearly 1,500 healthy women over the age of 55 were enrolled. The results of the study were reported in this week’s issue of the British Medical Journal.

“Loading with high doses of calcium reduces bone loss but at a cost in heart health that is not justified,” said Ian Reed, professor of medicine and endocrinology at the University of Auckland.

Some members of the medical community expressed doubt about the study’s results, calling them “implausible.” “Extra calcium doesn’t build up in your arteries,” said Dr. Robert Heaney, a professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and a long-time researcher of calcium’s effect on health. “The body regulates the blood concentration of calcium. Postmenopausal women should be getting 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day through diet and supplements. Even if it turns out that this proposed link is true, you have to weight that against fracture protection.”

In any case, significant amounts of research must be conducted before any firm conclusions are drawn. Judy O’Sullivan, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said that women who are prescribed calcium supplements to protect their bones should not stop doing so based on this one study.

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