Calcium Supplements Can Cause Problems for Elderly Heart Disease Patients-Consumer Health News

Tuesday, April 26, 2022 (HealthDay News)-Elderly people are often advised to take calcium supplements, but new studies show that pills are an elderly person with heart valve problems that cause heart failure. May significantly increase the risk of.

People taking calcium supplements alone or taking calcium containing vitamin D have a higher risk of heart-related death or death for some reason than those who do not take supplements. The researchers reported.

These people were also likely to need Surgery to replace the aortic valve..

For example, people who take calcium and vitamin D together double the risk of heart-related death, while those who take calcium alone need surgery to replace the heart valves. It is nearly three times as likely to be.

“Additional calcium intake may be useless and even harmful,” said Dr. Samir Kapadia, a senior researcher who chairs cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “If you are taking additional calcium, you need to work with an expert to analyze the situation and assess whether it is absolutely necessary.”

Aortic valve stenosis It occurs when the aortic valve (the main outflow valve of the heart) hardens or narrows, blocking blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body.

“Normally, valves open up to a quarter of the size,” says Kapadia. “About 5% of people over the age of 75 have valves that calcify. Calcium builds up and prevents the valves from opening as wide as normal,” he explained.

“If the valve opens smaller than the size of a dime, it is considered very important and there is a risk of developing heart failure or death,” said Capadia.

Calcium supplements are suspected to be the cause of aortic stenosis. This is because calcium for bone can be just as easily transferred to the heart valves.

But so far, studies of calcium and heart valve problems have been conducted primarily in animals. At the same time, researchers pointed out that prescriptions for calcium, including vitamin D, have increased sharply in recent years, especially among postmenopausal women.

To see if calcium contributes to heart valve problems, Kapadia and his colleagues collaborate with Kapadia on the heart health of more than 2,600 patients who have already experienced mild to moderate calcification of the aortic valve. Was tracked.

The average age of the patients was 74 years, with an average follow-up of 5.5 years or older. Patients were divided into those taking calcium, those taking calcium and vitamin D, and those not taking supplements.

In this study, people taking calcium with vitamin D had 13.7 heart-related deaths per 1,000 person-years, compared to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 person-years without supplements. It turns out that there is an absolute risk of. (Human years are years multiplied by the number of members of the population affected by certain conditions.)

Calcium and vitamin D supplementation increased the risk of death from all causes by 31%, but studies found that calcium alone increased the risk of death from all causes by 24%.

The results were published online on April 25th. BMJ..

Dr. Mathiet Mee, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside in New York City, said the onset of aortic stenosis is very similar to the way normal bone is formed.

Therefore, “the concept of calcium supplementation as a modifier of the progression of aortic stenosis is interesting,” said Tommy, who was not involved in the study.

However, he warned that because this is an observational study, it is not possible to establish a clear causal link between calcium supplements and heart valve problems.

“Nevertheless, the results of this study generate a hypothesis, emphasizing the benefits of commonly used supplements for cardiovascular health and the need for risk randomization studies,” Tommy said. Stated.

“It’s good to remember that’more’is not necessarily’more’. Supplements can be double-edged swords,” Tommy concludes.

Capadia said older people should get their recommendations Calcium through their dietAnd you should talk to their doctor about their bone health concerns.

He said that vitamin D itself, which your body needs in bones to absorb calcium, did not cause heart health problems among patients in his study. And there is evidence that another supplement, vitamin K2, can “help calcium go to the bones instead of the heart,” Kapadia added.

People diagnosed with thinning bones osteoporosis In addition to calcium supplements, there are many other medicines available, according to Capadia.These include: BisphosphonateHormone therapy and bone-forming drugs.

Dr. S. Allen Lewis, an associate professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is not in a hurry to make decisions based on these findings. In addition to calcium supplements, “there may be many other factors that may not be considered, such as diet, use of other medications, or medical problems that people have,” Lewis said. Mr. says.

Also, many other studies have not shown a link between the use of calcium supplements and heart disease. “These findings are very interesting, but I think we need to investigate further,” he added.

If someone has osteoporosis, Lewis advised to look at the risk for that person as a whole. “In this case, we need to balance the potential risks of osteoporosis-related fractures and fractures, which have a significant impact on people’s lives and are very important to prevent,” he says. I did.

For more information

Mayo Clinic Osteoporosis drug..

Source: Samir Kapadia, MD, Chair, Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio; Mathiet Me, MD, Cardiologist, Mount Sinai Morningside, New York City; S. Allen Luis, PhD, Associate Professor, Medicine, and Staff Cardiologist , May York Clinic, Rochester, Ohio. BMJApril 25, 2022, online