The media is at it again — reporting deceptive propaganda by the medical establishment as if it were scientific fact.
Just imagine the epidemic of osteoporosis that will occur if women stop taking their calcium supplements. That will happen if the public relies on mainstream news reporters to make their health decisions.
In a biased and horrifically flawed analysis, a group of doctors came to the conclusion that calcium supplements increase heart attack risk by 27%.
Omitted from the media reports were critical facts such as the exclusion of people who took vitamin D, magnesium or other nutrients typically found in bone protection formulations.
In other words, calcium-supplemented study subjects (who the mainstream claims suffered higher heart attack rates) would have been seriously deficient in vitamin D and magnesium — two essential nutrients that protect against heart attack.
The doctors who compiled this analysis also conveniently omitted major clinical trials showing that those with higher calcium intake had significantly lower cardiovascular rates.
A technical rebuttal by Steven Joyal, M.D., to this flawed study appears below. We do want to emphasize, however, the critical need to supplement with other nutrients when taking calcium for optimal effect.
As we age, the body’s internal regulators of calcium deposition become dysfunctional. Scientists have uncovered adeficiency of vitamin K as being a factor that enables calcium to infiltrate the inner lining of arteries to cause arterial calcification. By ensuring optimal vitamin K status, calcium is directed to the bone and away from the arterial wall. Fortunately, Life Extension® members obtain vitamin K in the Super Booster multi-nutrient caps as well as Super Kcapsules.
Magnesium is another critical nutrient for bone and cardiovascular health. Of interest, magnesium is considered a natural calcium-channel blocker17 that supports endothelium-dependent relaxation of blood vessels.18 For optimal bone and cardiovascular health, nutritional experts for the past 40 years have urged those who take calcium to also supplement with magnesium and vitamin D. Life Extension members obtain magnesium and vitamin D in the Bone Restore and other bone-support formulas.
Optimal bone health and protection against atherosclerosis requires a multifactorial approach that involves far more than taking only calcium. The recently published meta-analysis, flawed as it is, offers a valuable lesson to the serious supplement user, i.e. lack of careful scientific analysis creates seriously flawed conclusions.
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