Calcium supplements might raise older women’s dementia risk

Calcium supplements are commonly used by women who have suffered weakened bone strength after the onset of osteoporosis, which typically begins during the menopause.

Among the 83 women who took calcium supplements with no history of stroke, 18 of them developed dementia, compared with 33 out of the 509 who did not take supplements. Such lesions are common in older adults, with one review study estimating that anywhere from 50 percent to 98 percent of elderly adults may have them.

While the correlation is notable, there is no assumption that calcium supplements cause dementia, said Silke Kern, M.D., Ph.D., with the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Dementia chooses weaker victims, and paired with calcium supplements, can install faster.

“Recently, however, the use of supplements and their effect on health has been questioned”, she adds.

Washington D.C., August 19: For older women who have had a stroke or other signs of cerebrovascular disease, taking calcium supplements may increase risk of dementia, according to a new study Cerebrovascular disease is a group of disorders that affect blood flow in the brain.

The researchers hypothesized that calcium supplementation is associated with an increased risk of dementia, and this association is heightened in individuals already compromised by ischemic cerebrovascular disease. They conducted psychiatry and cognitive tests of all the participants at the start and after five years of the study. In comparison, a smaller proportion – 12 out of 93 women who had previously had a stroke but did not take supplements – developed dementia during the same time period.

Women who had not had a stroke but whose brains showed signs of cerebrovascular disease were also three times more likely to develop dementia than those not taking the supplements.

Two studies past year found that, for most healthy people, calcium supplements make little difference to bone health or your risk of breaking a bone.

“Osteoporosis is highly prevalent, and fractures, falls, and the disability that come from falls will outweigh changing frequency of prescribing calcium supplements”, said Neelum Aggarwal, from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago who was not involved in the study.

In women with no stroke history whose brains showed signs of less serious damage caused by impaired blood flow, taking calcium tripled the risk. Excess calcium also might somehow affect the blood vessels within the brain. Though calcium can be obtained from diet, it cannot meet the daily need. Of the 700 subjects, 450 got brain scans too.

The author also noted that the study was small and results can not be generalised to the overall population, and additional studies are needed to confirm the findings. Because calcium deficiency contributes to osteoporosis, daily calcium intake of 1000 to 1200mg is recommended.

Both reports made clear the distinction between calcium in foods such as milk and green leafy vegetables – which is not thought to have risks – and calcium supplements.