Debate continues over calcium supplements and CV risk

摘要

Taking calcium supplements, with or without vitamin D, can increase the risk of cardiovascular events, according to a reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative calcium/vitamin D supplementation (WHI CaD) study (BMJ, online 20 April 2011). Previous analysis of the seven-year WHI CaD study, which involved 36,282 post-menopausal women, found that daily administration of calcium 1g plus vitamin D 400 units had no effect on any cardiovascular endpoint. However, the authors of the BMJ reanalysis point out that 54% of the women recruited to the WHI CaD study were taking personal calcium supplements, and 47% vitamin D supplements, outside of the study protocol. They argue that this could have skewed the results of the original analysis.