# Calcium Heart Disease Study on Doctor Oz



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

So Doctor Oz had a panel of experts on talking about latest Medical News types of things.Some points they brought up about this study.1. It was not a direct study where they specifically went out to test to see what the actual risk was. They were data mining other studies using Calcium for other reasons and found a correlation. These were not Calcium and Heart Disease studies that were used for the data mining.FWIW, correlation studies often have some other factor that is the reason for why group A has a different risk than group B. There may be some differences that weren't accounted for and the thing in question really has nothing to do with the result that makes the headlines.2. They excluded from the meta analysis (we analyze a group of studies that are all a little bit different to see if anything in common seems to show up) any study where Calcium was taken with vitamin D. These were Calcium as a single supplement without any of the other things known to help the calcium move from the blood and into the bones and cells where you want it.The concern seems to be what about the Calcium your body doesn't use and just keeps circulating.3. This is preliminary information, not established fact. The recommendations they had based on this information.Most cautious.If you take Calcium by itself just because you heard it was good, probably get enough from your diet anyway, have no health reason to take it, and you have a strong family or personal history of heart disease, stop taking it. However if you have a medical reason to take it, don't stop but discuss with your doctor to make sure you are on top of anything you need to keep track of because of your family history.Middle cautiousDon't stop taking calcium but make sure you get 400 mgs of vitamin D.Also recommended you take magnesium with it, but for a lot of people trying to keep as much as possible in the colon to constipate them you may not want as much magnesium as is typical for other people (400 mgs). I would say if there is a little bit that is better than none at all, but often people with a lot of diarrhea can't tolerate any magnesium in supplements. You might check to see what foods have magnesium in them and add make sure you eat the ones you tolerate regularly.Least cautious.It raises a few questions, but not enough to really take action on until further study, and it doesn't apply to anyone taking Calcium with vitamin D/magnesium.


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