There is no point in taking calcium supplements or increasing intake of it in diets because it's unlikely to strengthen bones or stop fractures in older people, new research says.
It's led Auckland University associate professor of medicine Dr Mark Bollard to say medical professionals shouldn't be recommending calcium for that purpose.
Two studies published in The British Medical Journal this week reported the results.
Dr Bollard says most patients who are concerned about their bone health don't need to worry about their calcium intake.
Current guidelines recommend older people have at least 1000-2000mg of calcium per day to improve bone density and prevent fractures, with many taking to supplements to get their quota.
Concern about the safety of supplements led experts to recommend increasing calcium intake through food, but the effect on bone health was unknown.
Dr Bollard and a team of researchers looked at the evidence relied on by the recommendations.
"In the first study, we found that increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking supplements produces small (1 to 2 percent) increases in bone mineral density, which are unlikely to lead to a clinically meaningful reduction in risk of fracture," he says.
Another study found dietary calcium intake isn't associated with the risk of fracture and there is no clinical trial evidence upping intake stops them.
In an editorial in the journal, professor Karl Michaëlsson from Uppsala University in Sweden says the current recommendations to have more calcium than a normal balanced diet should be rethought.
Based on increasing intakes of calcium and vitamin D in some guidelines define almost everyone over 50 years old to be at risk, he says.
"Yet most will not benefit from increasing their intakes and will be exposed instead to a higher risk of adverse events [such as gastrointestinal side effects]," he says.
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