Video 6 controversy about calcium build up calcium

Video 6
Controversy about Calcium Build-Up
- Calcium build-up in the arteries can cause heart attacks in postmenopausal women
o A lot of studies done on this topic
- Study
o One recent study of ~1,500 women with a mean age of 74 taking calcium supplements had a
~50% chance of having either a heart attack or stoke compared with those taking a placebo
 What to do?
 It has been determined that calcium uptake is better when vitamin D is
enhanced
 More studies are needed to capture the best relationship with vitamin D and
calcium
- Osteoporosis Therapy
o Vitamin D + Calcium
 Easy to take and inexpensive
 1000 IU of calcium for $0.01
- Adolf Windaus
o Nobel Prize in 1928
 Eventually worked out Vitamin D-3
 Need for sunshine
 Important in northern climate
- Vitamin D
o Maintains Ca 2+
o Need UV-B
o 500 IU per day
- Montreal (Nov. – March)
o Sunshine is a lot less and less intense
 Photochemical transformation of Vitamin D cascade is not nearly as prevalent
 Snowbird
 Canadian who goes south for the winter
o To get sunshine and maintain calcium level in body
- Exercise
o Easy assess and should “pump iron” until 80
 Stimulates bone density and bone mass increase
 Demonstrated clearly and inexpensive
Activity 7: Osteoporosis Treatment Option
Increase or decrease!
Vitamin D has been shown to ___________ calcium uptake when the two supplements are taken together.

Answer: Increase
A lack of physical exercise can lead to a(n) ___________ in bone mass therefore weight bearing exercise is
recommended as a treatment for osteoporosis.
Answer: Decrease
Video 7
Therapy
- Estrogen
o Estrogen receptors detected in bone cells
 Very complicated
o As postmenopausal symptoms arise, estrogen levels decrease
o For many years, this was the conclusion:
 Estrogen:
 Helps prevent osteoporosis
 May help prevent heart disease
 Increases risk of uterine cancer
o Dramatic risk, but uterine cancer only affects a very small portion of
women
 May increase risk of breast cancer
o Paper
 The Vanishing Promises of Hormone Replacement
 Falling Out of Favor (New York Times)
 Premarin (Highly recommended estrogen supplement) and Prempro
(Combination of estrogen and progesterone) to reduce risk of uterine cancer
have fallen out of favor
- Prempro
o Estrogen plus progestin
 Helps prevent osteoporosis
 Reduces risk of uterine cancer
 But…
 May further increase risk of breast cancer
 May not be as effective against heart disease
- Other ways to look at the data:
o 30% Increase in Breast Cancer Risk (Headline)
 In a ten-year period, 3.5% of postmenopausal women will develop breast cancer
 With estrogen, this increases to 5% (Data)
 An alternate interpretation – Just as meaningful
o A postmenopausal woman who takes estrogen reduces her change of
remaining cancer free from 96.5% to 95% (Equivalent Interpretation)
 Does not sound as bad when you put your risk based on 100%
- Study
o Risks & Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women
 In 161,809 healthy individuals
