Calcium Supplements Linked to Mortality Risk in Men

A new study suggests that a high intake of supplemental calcium increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death in men, but not in women.

Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD, USA) conducted an analysis of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) AARP Diet and Health Study, which included 388,229 men and women (50–71 years of age) from six US states. The participants self-reported frequency of food intake and portion size during a one-year period, and answered questions about the frequency in which they consumed multivitamins, calcium-containing antacids, or calcium supplements alone. During a mean follow-up of 12 years, there were 7,904 and 3,874 CVD deaths in men and women, respectively.

The results showed that supplements containing calcium were used by 51% of men and 70% of women. In the men, supplemental calcium intake was associated with an elevated risk of CVD death, more specifically with heart disease death, but not significantly with cerebrovascular disease death. In women, supplemental calcium intake was not associated with CVD death, heart disease death, or cerebrovascular disease death. Dietary calcium intake was unrelated to CVD death in either men or women. The study was published early online on February 4, 2013, in JAMA Internal Medicine.

“We found a significant interaction by sex,” concluded lead author Qian Xiao, MD, and colleagues. “Elevated CVD mortality with increasing supplemental calcium intake was observed only in men; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that supplemental calcium intake may be associated with cardiovascular mortality in women.”

There is currently a debate surrounding the benefits and risks of supplemental calcium in men and women. In 2010, researchers published a meta-analysis in BMJ showing that the use of calcium supplements without coadministered vitamin D is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarct (MI). This increased risk was later confirmed in an analysis of the patients participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study (EPIC).

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US National Cancer Institute