New study demonstrates heart safety of calcium and vitamin D supplements

New research from the UK has offered evidence of the cardiovascular safety of calcium and vitamin D supplementation.

Analysis of data from the UK Biobank, encompassing 502,664 men and women, showed that 34,890 individuals reported taking calcium supplements, while 20,004 took vitamin D supplements and 10,406 were taking both.

No associations were found between the use of calcium supplements and hospital admissions related to ischaemic heart disease, any cardiovascular event, or death following admission for either admission category.

Results were similar for vitamin D and combination supplementation, with the trends remaining consistent even when other factors such as age, fatness, medication use and blood pressure were considered.

Calcium supplementation is widely used, including as an adjunct to therapy for osteoporosis, but previous studies have offered an inconsistent picture when it comes to the cardiovascular safety of these supplements.

Professor Cyrus Cooper, director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, said: "The findings will be built upon in further analyses that capitalise on the genetic and intensive musculoskeletal phenotyping components of the study in which we continue to play an important role."