(Undated) -- The same calcium supplements many people take to strengthen bones could be boosting their risk of heart attack by 30-percent. Researchers in Britain and the U.S. have combined data from eleven studies that tracked nearly 12-thousand elderly people over several years. Half were given calcium supplements while others were given a placebo. At the end of four years researchers found a 30-percent higher rate of heart attacks in people who'd taken the calcium. The same researchers looked at the number of injuries related to the brittle bone disease osteoporosis and came to the conclusion calcium supplements are associated "with more bad things than bad things prevented."
The scientists say the same effect isn't seen when calcium comes from diet because calcium from food is absorbed very slowly. As a result, blood calcium hardly budges so there's no formation of plaques in blood vessels which causes cardiovascular disease. The research has been published in the "British Medical Journal."
