Calcium supplements' link to heart attack risk 'overstated'

Previous studies have shown that an adequate intake of calcium plays an important role in building and maintaining optimum bone mass, and a recent meta-analysis published online in the British Medical Journal should not cause consumers to doubt the value of calcium supplements for maintaining bone health, they added.

"Adequate calcium intake is vital to building and maintaining healthy bones, and to preventing osteoporosis-which is caused by a failure to build adequate bone mass or by bone loss that occurs as we age. Most people do not get enough calcium from diet alone, and this is where a calcium supplement can be important to consumers of all ages," said Andrew Shao, senior vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, Council for Responsible Nutrition.

"The results from this meta-analysis does not undermine the value calcium supplements offer to those concerned with maintaining or increasing bone density, as years of research shows these products do," he added.

The authors of the meta-analysis examined the effects of calcium supplements on the risk of cardiovascular events, concluding there is an increased risk, and calling for a reassessment of the role of calcium supplements for osteoporosis. ccording to CRN, these conclusions are dramatically overstated, considering the limitations of meta-analysis, in general, and this meta-analysis, specifically. (ANI)

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