Calcium supplements are one way to prevent damage due to osteoporosis. But when should we drink sufficient amount of calcium? When our bones are still growing,when we were young.Calcium supplements that we drink after the elderly is not necessarily helpful, even detrimental,says a study.
Elderly women who used to drink calcium supplements to maintain bone strength have a higher risk of heart attack, said the researchers from New Zealand.
Researchers reminded of their findings is not a reference. But they also said that their findings on the highest risk of heart attack is useful for further learning.
The effect is beyond the benefits of bone obtained from calcium supplements," said the researchers led by Ian Reid of the University of Auckland in the British Medical Journal.
The study involved 1471 post menopausal women who are healthy, around 74-year-old, who also had participated in the study of the influence of calcium for bone density and fracture rate. Among them 732 people given calcium supplements, while another 739 given placebo. They continue to be observed for five years.
It can be seen that heart attacks are more common in those who were taking calcium supplements, in which 31 people of whom suffered a heart attack. while consumed higher among the placebo, only 21 people who experienced it, said the researchers.
The researchers also noted previous research which stated that taking calcium supplements can reduce the risk of heart disease, because the level of bad cholesterol in the blood decreases.
Allegedly, because calcium supplements increase blood calcium levels, this may trigger the formation of deposits in the arteries that cause heart attacks.
This new discovery "is not a conclusion, but offering the possibility that high calcium intake may have adverse effects on heart health," wrote the researchers.
"Currently, the bad effect must be balanced with the benefits of bone calcium, especially in elderly women," they concluded.
