Calcium supplements may raise risk of heart attack


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(Reuters) - Calcium supplements, which many people consume hoping to ward off osteoporosis, may increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 30 percent, researchers reported Friday.

These tiny tablets which carry concentrated doses of calcium were also associated with higher incidences of stroke and death, but they were not statistically significant.

The researchers advised people consuming calcium supplements to seek advice from their doctors, take more calcium-rich foods and try other interventions like exercise, not smoking and keeping a healthy weight to prevent osteoporosis.

"People regard calcium supplements as natural but they are really not natural at all," Ian Reid, professor of medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said in a telephone interview.

Half of [patients] were given calcium supplements and the other half placebo or dummy pills with no therapeutic content. The results were published in the British Medical Journal.

"What we found was a 30 percent increase in heart attacks in the people who were randomized to take calcium," Reid said.

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I don't believe this.

These tiny tablets which carry concentrated doses of calcium were also associated with higher incidences of stroke and death, but they were not statistically significant.
...higher incidences of stroke and death, but they were not statistically significant.
...were not statistically significant.
...not statistically significant.

The question that people should be asking is, how do you have a study of 12000 people, find a 30% skew, and FAIL TO GAIN STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE?

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The question that people should be asking is, how do you have a study of 12000 people, find a 30% skew, and FAIL TO GAIN STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE?

because 60% is the point of statistical significance.

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People regard calcium supplements as natural[..]

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Gave me a bit of a giggle. :p

Anyway, since our cardiac pacemaker cell potential is additionally depolarised by calcium influx, an abnormal level of calcium by taking supplements does have certain implications.

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