Skip to main content
Log in

Cardiovascular endocrinology

Controversy—cardiovascular effects of calcium supplementation

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Endocrinology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Of late, clinical trial data, meta-analyses and observational studies have caused concern that the use of calcium supplements might increase the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. A new meta-analysis suggests that there is no problem with calcium supplements, but as the analysis includes controversial data omitted from previous analyses, the debate will continue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Reid, I. R. & Bolland, M. J. Calcium risk–benefit updated—new WHI analyses. Maturitas 77, 1–3 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Jackson, R. D. et al. Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and the risk of fractures. N. Engl. J. Med. 354, 669–683 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lewis, J. R., Zhu, K. & Prince, R. L. Adverse events from calcium supplementation: relationship to errors in myocardial infarction self-reporting in randomized controlled trials of calcium supplementation. J. Bone Miner. Res. 27, 719–722 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bolland, M. J. et al. Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis. BMJ 341, c3691 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Mao, P.-J. et al. Effect of calcium or vitamin D supplementation on vascular outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Int. J. Cardiol. 169, 106–111 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Bolland, M. J., Grey, A., Avenell, A., Gamble, G. D. & Reid, I. R. Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis. BMJ 342, d2040 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Lewis, J. R. et al. The effects of calcium supplementation on verified coronary heart disease hospitalization and death in postmenopausal women: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J. Bone Miner. Res. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.2311.

  8. Larsen, E. R., Mosekilde, L. & Foldspang, A. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation prevents osteoporotic fractures in elderly community dwelling residents: a pragmatic population-based 3-year intervention study. J. Bone Miner. Res. 19, 370–378 (2004).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bolland, M. J., Grey, A., Gamble, G. D. & Reid, I. R. The effect of vitamin D supplementation on skeletal, vascular, or cancer outcomes: a trial sequential meta-analysis. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2, 307–320 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jamal, S. A. et al. Effect of calcium-based versus non-calcium-based phosphate binders on mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 382, 1268–1277 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author's work is supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (grant 12/1110).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian R. Reid.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author has received speaker honoraria from Sanofi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Reid, I. Controversy—cardiovascular effects of calcium supplementation. Nat Rev Endocrinol 10, 641–642 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2014.146

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2014.146

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation