Calcium Supplements Linked to Dementia Risk in Women with Certain Health Conditions
According to a new study, calcium supplements may be associated with an increased risk of dementia in older women who have had a stroke or other signs of cerebrovascular disease. The research is published in the online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Cerebrovascular disease is a group of disorders that affect blood flow in the brain. These diseases, including stroke, are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and increase the risk of developing dementia.
“Osteoporosis is a common problem in the elderly. Because calcium deficiency contributes to osteoporosis, daily calcium intake of 1000 to 1200 mg is recommended. Getting this recommended amount through diet alone can be difficult, so calcium supplements are widely used,” said study author Silke Kern, MD, PhD with the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “Recently, however, the use of supplements and their effect on health has been questioned.”
The study involved 700 dementia-free women between the ages of 70 and 92 who were followed for five years. Participants took a variety of tests at the beginning and end of the study, including tests of memory and thinking skills. A CT brain scan was performed in 447 participants at the start of the study.
Scientists also looked at the use of calcium supplements in the participants and whether they were diagnosed with dementia over the course of the study. A total of 98 women were taking calcium supplements at the start of the study and 54 women had already experienced a stroke. During the study, 54 more women had strokes, and 59 women developed dementia. Among the women who had CT scans, 71 percent had lesions on their brains’ white matter, which is a marker for cerebrovascular disease.
The study found that the women who were treated with calcium supplements were twice as likely to develop dementia than women who did not take supplements.
But when the researchers further analyzed the data, they found that the increased risk was only among women with cerebrovascular disease. Women with a history of stroke who took supplements had a nearly seven times increased risk of developing dementia than women with a history of stroke who did not take calcium supplements. Women with white matter lesions who took supplements were three times as likely to develop dementia as women who had white matter lesions and did not take supplements. Women without a history of stroke or women without white matter lesions had no increased risk when taking calcium supplements.
Overall, 14 out of 98 women who took supplements developed dementia, or 14 percent, compared to 45 out of 602 women who did not take supplements, or 8 percent. A total of six out of 15 women with a history of stroke who took supplements developed dementia, compared to 12 out of 93 women with a history of stroke who did not take supplements. Among the women with no history of stroke, 18 out of 83 who took supplements developed dementia, compared to 33 out of the 509 who did not take supplements.
“It is important to note that our study is observational, so we cannot assume that calcium supplements cause dementia,” said Kern. The author also noted that the study was small and results cannot be generalized to the overall population, and additional studies are needed to confirm the findings.
Kern noted that calcium from food affects the body differently than calcium from supplements and appears to be safe or even protective against vascular problems.
Can’t Sleep? Oversleep? Both Can Contribute to Stroke Risk
Insomnia? Oversleeping? Both May Increase Your Risk of Stroke
There is growing evidence that sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea are related to stroke risk and recovery from stroke, according to a recent literature review published in the online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Authors recommend that people who have had a stroke or a mini-stroke, called a transient ischemic attack, be screened for sleep disorders.
“Although sleep disorders are common after a stroke, very few stroke patients are tested for them,” said study author Dirk M. Hermann, MD, of University Hospital Essen in Essen, Germany. “The results of our review show that should change, as people with sleep disorders may be more likely to have another stroke or other negative outcomes than people without sleep problems, such as having to go to a nursing home after leaving the hospital.”
The researchers also recommend that sleep apnea be treated with a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP), based on evidence that shows that its use can improve outcomes after stroke.
For the literature review, the researchers examined dozens of studies that looked at the link between sleep disturbances and stroke. They then combined the data of multiple studies in a meta-analysis.
The review found evidence linking sleep breathing problems with stroke risk and recovery.
One Hour Physical Activity Offsets 8 Hours Sitting on Your “Bum”
- One hour of brisk walking or cycling for pleasure may eliminate the harmful effect of sitting
- Physical inactivity costs the global economy over US$67.5 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity
A new study of over 1 million people finds that doing at least one hour of physical activity per day, such as brisk walking or cycling for pleasure, may eliminate the increased risk of death associated with sitting for 8h a day.
Physical inactivity is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers and is associated with more than 5 million deaths per year and, as the first global economic analysis of physical inactivity shows, costs the world economy over US$67.5 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity.
The findings come from a new four-paper Series published in The Lancet and launched in London prior to this years’s Summer Olympic Games. The authors of the Series warn there has been too little progress in tackling the global pandemic of physical inactivity since the 2012 Olympics, with a quarter of adults worldwide still failing to meet current recommendations on physical activity.
Researchers analysed data from over 1 million people from 16 studies. The research team wanted to see how many hours of daily physical activity would be required to eliminate the association between prolonged sitting time and increased risk of death. People who sat for 8 hours a day but were physically active had a much lower risk of death compared to people who sat for fewer hours a day, but were not physically active. This suggests that physical activity is particularly important, no matter how many hours a day are spent sitting. In fact, the increased risk of death associated with sitting for 8 hours a day was eliminated for people who did a minimum of 1 hour physical activity per day.
“There has been a lot of concern about the health risks associated with today’s more sedentary lifestyles,” says lead author Professor Ulf Ekelund, the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Norway and the University of Cambridge, UK “Our message is a positive one: it is possible to reduce – or even eliminate – these risks if we are active enough, even without having to take up sports or go to the gym.”
He adds: “For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time. For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it’s getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work. An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk.”
The research team also looked at time spent watching TV per day – a specific type of sedentary behaviour – in a subgroup of approximately half a million people. They found similar results: sitting watching TV for over 3h per day was associated with an increased risk of death in all activity groups, except the most active.
