High Calcium Intake Is Associated with Earlier Mortality in Women

Oral calcium supplementation is associated with elevated risk for adverse cardiovascular (CV) events such as myocardial infarction (e.g., JW Gen Med May 12 2011). Moreover, in a recent study (JW Gen Med Feb 26 2013), high-dose calcium supplementation was associated with excess CV-related mortality in men. In this prospective cohort study, Swedish investigators assessed the associations between long-term calcium intake and all-cause and CV-related death in 61,000 women born between 1914 and 1948.

Researchers estimated dietary, supplemental, and total calcium intake from food-frequency questionnaires that were completed at baseline (1987–1990) and in 1997. Median follow-up was 19 years. Compared with dietary calcium intakes of 600 to 999 mg da…