Canadian Pharmacy Drugstore Warns Calcium Supplement Users of Possible Heart Problems

Aug 13
07:58

2012

Remcel Mae P. Canete

Remcel Mae P. Canete

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Many older Americans take calcium supplements to prevent bone loss, but they may be significantly increasing their risk for a heart attack, a new study suggests. These supplements do not help prevent heart attacks or stroke as some previous research has suggested, the study authors say. But dietary calcium might reduce the risk, they noted. Generic Digoxin is one the most common immediate aids to heart troubles among patients.

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Many older Americans take calcium supplements to prevent bone loss,Canadian Pharmacy Drugstore Warns Calcium Supplement Users of Possible Heart Problems Articles but they may be significantly increasing their risk for a heart attack, a new study suggests.  These supplements do not help prevent heart attacks or stroke as some previous research has suggested, the study authors say. But dietary calcium might reduce the risk, they noted. Generic Digoxin is one the most common immediate aids to heart troubles among patients. 

"While a moderately high intake of calcium from diet may go along with a lower risk of heart attack, this is not true for supplementary calcium intake," said lead researcher Sabine Rohrmann, from the division of cancer epidemiology and prevention at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. 

"Instead of taking calcium supplements, men and women who want to increase their calcium intake should rely on foods, such as low-fat dairy products or mineral water, [that are] rich in calcium," she said. 

However, Dr. Robert Recker, director of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University and president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, disagreed with the results. 

"I am doubtful of these findings," he said. "It's hard to understand why calcium in the diet can reduce the risk of heart attack, but supplements increase the risk." 

Recker said, "I think the findings could reflect a bias where those already at risk for heart attacks took supplements in hopes of reducing the risk, but some had heart attacks nonetheless." 

Recker added, "Calcium supplements do prevent a significant number of fractures. In the United States, the incidence of fractures from osteoporosis is greater than the combined incidence of heart disease, heart attack and stroke." Then, to buy Digoxin liquid pairs perfectly with calcium supplements to relieve patients who are suffering both calcium deficiency and heart risks. 

But Dr. Ian Reid, a professor of medicine and endocrinology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and author of an accompanying journal editorial, said the findings are similar to his own study.

"This study provides confirmatory evidence that calcium taken as supplements appears to increase the risk of heart attacks; whereas having a diet that has some calcium-rich foods doesn't seem to confer the same risk," he said. 

Reid suggested, "High doses of calcium might damage the walls of blood vessels, which leads to heart attacks. Most people should not be taking calcium supplements," he said. "You should get the calcium you need from your diet rather than taking supplements." 

Commenting on the new study, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, added that "it has been hypothesized that abrupt changes in concentrations of calcium in the blood with calcium supplementation might be contributing to adverse cardiovascular effects." 

So, he stated, "while further studies are needed, calcium supplements should be used only in those where the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks." And, Canadian pharmacydrugstore agrees to it – never take chances if one’s life is at stake. 

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system (including all vertebrates), which pumps blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The term cardiac (as in cardiology) means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek º±Á´¹¬, kardia, for "heart".