I don’t know when “calcium supplementation” became a hot word. However, there are many who benefit from it, and there are also those who suffer from it. Aunt Zhang is almost 70 years old this year, and she has been taking care of her grandson at home after retirement. Seeing that his grandson was about to go to school with his schoolbag on his back, he could finally take a rest, but unexpectedly his waist and legs began to ache. The son and daughter-in-law are very filial. After hearing the news, they bought a lot of calcium tablets, glucosamine and nutritional supplements for her. Aunt Zhang has been eating for a long time, and her legs and feet seem to be more agile than before, but signs of arteriosclerosis were found during a routine physical examination.

This time I came to the hospital to see a doctor, and I was diagnosed with coronary heart disease through coronary spiral CT.

Calcium supplementation is “closely related” to coronary heart disease!

In recent years, news about calcium deficiency and calcium supplementation has frequently appeared in the newspapers, giving birth to a variety of products on the market. However, adequate calcium supplementation can strengthen the body, and excessive calcium supplementation will lead to new health risks.

For example, clinically common stones are often caused by excessive calcium supplementation. In addition, there are other hidden dangers. A study published in the “New England Journal of Medicine” found that excessive calcium supplementation in women increases the probability of coronary heart disease and stroke. The report said that the study involved 16,718 American women and 29,000 British elderly people. None of the women interviewed before the survey started taking calcium supplements. At the end of the experiment, women who supplemented calcium tablets and vitamin D at the same time had a 25% and 15% increase in the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, respectively!

Excessive calcium supplementation may lead to coronary heart disease!

If you do not pay attention to diet and exercise, the elderly, especially postmenopausal women, are more prone to osteoporosis. However, blindly excessive calcium supplementation will lead to a sudden increase in blood calcium concentration, which to a certain extent accelerates the formation of deposits in the arteries and hardening of the arteries.

Calcium ions are absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, enter the blood to form blood calcium, and then form bones through bone metabolism (blood calcium deposits calcium salts). But this does not mean that the more calcium supplemented, the more bones will be formed. Because when the calcium concentration in human cells is too high, it will activate phospholipase A2, which can destroy the structure in the cell and break the DNA in the nucleus. When the cytoplasm is separated from the cell membrane, it causes the cell to shrivel and die.

There are 200,000 fatal heart attacks in the United States every year, some of which are caused by the influx of calcium ions into the heart muscle cells caused by cardiac ischemia and calcium deposition.

How to supplement calcium for patients with hypertension and coronary heart disease?

In my country, there is no statistics on the number of patients who died suddenly due to excessive calcium supplementation. But as far as the cardiovascular system is concerned, at least in the outpatient clinic, it is still common to see such patients.

Calcium metabolism disorder caused by excessive calcium supplementation is mainly manifested as increased calcium content in vascular smooth muscle, increased vascular tension, causing spasm, slowing down or even stopping blood flow. Studies have confirmed that calcium antagonists (such as nifedipine, amlodipine, diltiazem, etc.) can prevent the influx of calcium ions into cells, thereby relieving coronary artery spasm and ensuring coronary blood flow.

Therefore, patients with cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and coronary heart disease should take reasonable calcium intake or take designated calcium supplements under the guidance of doctors to achieve the purpose of lowering blood pressure.

Improving lifestyle takes the lead

In fact, so far, there is no clear and unified statement about who needs to supplement calcium, when to start supplementing, and how long to supplement. But we can always find a way to supplement calcium that suits us – food supplements.

Drink milk every day, eat dairy products, shrimp skins, soybeans, etc.;It is also important to choose a healthy lifestyle. Drink less or no coffee and cola; there is another very important thing, which is to quit smoking; finally, insist on sunbathing every day and take part in outdoor sports, which is also conducive to the absorption and utilization of calcium. If you are still not sure, you should consult a doctor and avoid blind calcium supplementation.