Filed under Women's, Bone Health
By Staff Reporter
23/09/2005 - Calcium supplements may not increase the bone mineral density in young women after a certain threshold level, according to a new study from
Creighton
University.
In the United States, the recommended daily intake of calcium for women aged between 18 and 50 years is 1000mg. Calcium, together with vitamin D which is understood to help absorption, is crucial for maintaining strong bones and helping to prevent the brittle bone disease osteoporosis in later life.
The World Health Organisation regards osteoporosis as an important health concern, since one in three women and one in seven men will experience a fracture due to osteoporosis at some point after the age of 50.
In
Europe, osteoporosis causes around 1.1 million fractures each year. The Creighton researchers sought to test the hypothesis that increasing calcium intake in post-adolescent women increases skeletal consolidation. They recruited 152 healthy young women aged between 20 and 25 years, who had a body mass index of between 19.5 and 25.5. Food diaries kept for seven days ascertained that all the participants had a low dietary intake of calcium, of between 424 and 786 mg/d. They were randomly assigned to two groups: one took 500mg of calcium carbonate supplements three times a day, and the other took a placebo. Both groups also took a daily multivitamin. Their bone density was measured every six months. All of the 121 participants who remained in the study after 12 months.
