Excessive intake of calcium and vitamin D is harmful to the elderly

In a study exploring the relationship between diet and brain lesions, American scholars found that in the elderly, excessive intake of calcium and vitamin D was positively correlated with the volume of brain lesions displayed by MRI. Payne, MD, from Duke University in North Carolina, USA, reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Nutrition Society that the results of the research on the relationship between the two have caused people to take too much of these nutrients. Doubts about adverse consequences.

Payne said that it is not yet possible to conclude that calcium or vitamin D is a cause of brain lesions from this current survey, but they speculate that this result is caused by calcium deposition on the blood vessel wall, which leads to vascular calcification.

Dr. Payne and colleagues evaluated the intake of calcium and vitamin D in the participants through the food frequency questionnaire and MRI scan. The study subjects were 232 elderly people (average age 71 years).

All subjects have brain lesions of different sizes, but intake of large doses of calcium and vitamin D is more likely to present brain lesions with a larger total area, as seen in MRI scans.

Two independent multivariate models (controlling age, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and depression, etc.) also confirmed this positive association. In a multivariate model (including calcium and vitamin D), only vitamin D and lesion volume were significantly correlated.

Payne said that in recent years, it has been advocated to consume larger amounts of calcium and vitamin D to prevent senile bone loss, but it is worth noting that some excess calcium salts may be deposited in the blood vessel wall instead of bone. This phenomenon may become a unique problem due to impaired excretion of calcium salts in patients with kidney disease. There is an urgent need to conduct a longitudinal study to determine whether calcium and vitamin D will cause vascular calcification and brain disease in the elderly in the long run.