A new review of research on calcium supplements raises concern for those who routinely take them to prevent bone loss. After analyzing data on close to 12,000 adults, researchers found that in people older than 40, the supplements appear to increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 30 percent (the risk is still small) while providing very limited benefit to bone health, HealthDay reports. Unlike calcium from dietary sources, supplements can boost blood levels of calcium, which may hike a person's heart attack risk. The researchers encourage people to get calcium through dairy products, green leafy vegetables, and other dietary sources. "It is not clear whether [calcium supplements] really increase the risk of heart attacks or strokes," said John Cleland, author of an editorial accompanying the report in the British Journal of Medicine, according to HealthDay. But "they do appear to be a waste of time and effort, and we should probably stop using them."
The supposed health benefits of supplements in general face scrutiny. Clinical trials suggest that supplements of single nutrients like vitamins B, C, and E and the mineral selenium do not, as once thought, prevent chronic or age-related diseases including prostate and other kinds of cancer, U.S. News contributor Katherine Hobson wrote last year. In some cases, supplements have proven harmful. Beta carotene in the diet, for example, is associated with a lower risk of lung cancer, but as a supplement, it increased the incidence of the disease among smokers. Under various circumstances, it behaves differently in the body and can cause damage, Hobson wrote.
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