Calcium for Preventing Osteoporotic Fractures Chapel Hill NC

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body. Average healthy males have about two and a half to three pounds of calcium while females have about two pounds. Approximately 99 percent of calcium is present in the bones and teeth, which leaves only about one percent in cells and body fluids. While the most important function of calcium involves the maintenance of skeletal health, the small percentage of calcium outside the bones is used to maintain a variety of vital body functions.

Osteoporosis is often called the "silent disease" because bone loss occurs without symptoms. People may not know that they have osteoporosis until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump, or fall causes a hip fracture or a vertebra to collapse. Medically speaking, osteoporosis is characterized by low bone density and structural deterioration of bone tissue. Men lose bone too, but only about half as fast as women. Inadequate intake of dietary calcium is a risk factor for osteoporosis.

A study published in the Singapore Medical Journal investigated calcium levels in elderly patients with hip fractures. The researchers recruited 77 patients between the ages of 60 and 98 and dietary calcium intake was determined by a food frequency questionnaire. The results were the average daily calcium intake was 650 mg. Only six of the hip fracture patients (7.8 percent) had the recommended calcium intake of 1,000 mg a day. Only one out of 55 patients had bone mineral density (BMD) within the normal range. BMD in 34 patients (64.2 percent) had hip T-scores in the osteoporotic range and 18 patients (33.9 percent) had hip T-scores in the osteopenic range. The authors concluded that the elderly patients with hip fractures had insufficient dietary calcium intake and would benefit from calcium supplementation to prevent bone loss and subsequently osteoporotic fractures.¹

¹ Lee YH, Lim YW, Ling PS, et al. Inadequate dietary calcium intake in elderly patients with hip fractures. Singapore Med J. Dec2007;48(12):1117-21.