Vitamin D plus calcium tied to longer life

Older adults who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live a bit longer than their peers, a new research review suggests.

Researchers found that older adults who were given vitamin D and calcium supplements were 9 percent less likely to die over three years than those given placebo pills.

Vitamin D on its own, however, showed no effect on death rates.

The findings are based on data from eight past clinical trials - where people were randomly assigned to take vitamin D (with or without calcium) or get inactive placebos for comparison.

Those types of studies offer the strongest kind of evidence on whether the supplements have health effects or not, said Dr. Lars Rejnmark, the lead researcher on the review.

A 9 percent dip in death risk over a three-year period might sound small. To put it in context, Rejnmark's team - some of whom have connections to supplement makers that market vitamin D and calcium products - estimates that to prevent one death, 151 older adults would have to take vitamin D and calcium for three years.

But that effect is "at least as pronounced" as the benefits linked to cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure drugs, said Rejnmark, an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

"In my view, a 9 percent reduced mortality in the general population of elderly is of major importance," Rejnmark told Reuters Health by email.

Taking calcium supplements to build stronger bones may be bad for the heart, according to a new study that suggests getting similar doses from calcium-rich foods is a safer alternative.

The study, which followed nearly 24,000 German men and women between the ages of 35 and 64, found those who regularly took calcium supplements were 86 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who did not. Study subjects who relied completely on supplements for their daily calcium intake were 139 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

"Calcium supplements, which might raise [heart attack] risk, should be taken with caution," the authors wrote in their report, published Wednesday in the journal Heart.

Calcium is critical for strong bones and teeth. But the new study suggests supplements, many of which are sold as tasty gummy candies and chocolates, are no replacement for healthy foods.

"Except for stopping smoking," he added, "there are not many other known interventions that are capable (of) such a reduction in the risk of death."

EIGHT TRIALS, 70,000 PEOPLE

Rejnmark and his colleagues report the findings in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

For their study, the researchers combined the results from eight clinical trials that involved more than 70,000 older adults altogether - mostly women.