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Acute effects of calcium supplements on blood pressure: randomised, crossover trial in postmenopausal women

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Abstract

Summary

Calcium supplements appear to increase cardiovascular risk, but the mechanism is unknown. We investigated the acute effects of calcium supplements on blood pressure in postmenopausal women. The reduction in systolic blood pressure was smaller after calcium compared with the placebo in the hours following dosing.

Introduction

Calcium supplements appear to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk; however, the mechanism of this is uncertain. We previously reported that blood pressure declined over a day in older women, and that this reduction was smaller following a calcium supplement. To confirm this finding, we investigated the acute effects of calcium supplements on blood pressure.

Methods

This was a randomised controlled crossover trial in 40 healthy postmenopausal women (mean age 71 years and BMI 27.2 kg/m2). Women attended on two occasions, with visits separated by ≥7 days. At each visit, they received either 1 g of calcium as citrate, or placebo. Blood pressure and serum calcium concentrations were measured immediately before, and 2, 4 and 6 h after each intervention.

Results

Ionised and total calcium concentrations increased after calcium (p < 0.0001 versus placebo). Systolic blood pressure decreased after both calcium and placebo, but significantly less so after calcium (p = 0.02). The reduction in systolic blood pressure from baseline was smaller after calcium compared with placebo by 6 mmHg at 4 h (p = 0.036) and by 9 mmHg at 6 h (p = 0.002). The reduction in diastolic blood pressure was similar after calcium and placebo.

Conclusions

These findings are consistent with those of our previous trial and indicate that the use of calcium supplements in postmenopausal women attenuates the post-breakfast reduction in systolic blood pressure by around 6–9 mmHg. Whether these changes in blood pressure influence cardiovascular risk requires further study.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. EOB is a recipient of a Doctoral Scholarship from the University of Auckland and a Helios Scholarship from the University of Calgary. SMB is funded by an Auckland Medical Research Foundation Edith C. Coan Research Fellowship and a Kelliher Charitable Trust Emerging Research Start-Up Award. The funders had no role in the design of the study, analysis of the results or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre 1142, Auckland, New Zealand

    E. O. Billington, S. M. Bristow, G. D. Gamble, J. A. de Kwant, A. Stewart, B. V. Mihov, A. M. Horne & I. R. Reid

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    E. O. Billington

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  1. E. O. Billington
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Correspondence to S. M. Bristow.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Emma O. Billington and Sarah M. Bristow are joint first authors.

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Billington, E.O., Bristow, S.M., Gamble, G.D. et al. Acute effects of calcium supplements on blood pressure: randomised, crossover trial in postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int 28, 119–125 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-016-3744-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-016-3744-y

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