We need plenty of calcium in our bodies to ensure that our bones stay as healthy as possible. As we get older the bones naturally weaken and thin, which means we need to have especially high levels of calcium during this time. This leads to many older people taking calcium supplements to make sure that they are receiving the right levels.
Calcium supplements are taken by millions of elderly people and post-menopausal women to prevent their bones from thinning. But now it seems that these pills come with an added danger that had not been foreseen. Taking the pills on a daily basis has been found to double the risk of having a heart attack.
The research team warned that it is now very important to take the pills “with caution” and that your doctor should be consulted to make sure that you’re not at an increased risk. Experts are suggesting that the pills now present a serious problem for the wellbeing of people who take them.
Previous studies had actually linked an increased intake of calcium with a reduction in heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. But this new research, from a German team, points out that there is an important difference between taking supplements and getting your calcium from dietary sources such as milk, cheese and kale.
When the calcium is taken in the form of a supplement it appears to flood minerals directly into the bloodstream which can cause the artery walls to form hard deposits. This places anyone taking the supplement at a higher risk of having a heart attack.
The team looked at data from 3,980 German men and women aged 35 to 64. The most startling statistic was that people who took calcium supplements were 86 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those taking no supplements.
Comments are closed.