Osteoporosis New Zealand

Osteoporosis New Zealand funds research

The Auckland Bone Research Group has recently completed a small study of calcium supplementation in men, following their recent discovery that heart attacks were more frequent in women over the age of 70 years who take calcium supplements.

The group found an excess of heart related events in the calcium-treated men and although this did not reach statistical significance because of the small size of the study they thought it would be important to assess the possible vascular effects of calcium more precisely by undertaking measurements of coronary artery and aortic vascular calcification by CT scanning.

The Bone Research Group approached Osteoporosis New Zealand to assist with funding of this study; time was of the essence because these men had recently finished their trial medication (calcium or placebo) and they had decided to commit to doing these scans, and seek funding subsequently.

The Board of Osteoporosis New Zealand was delighted to have this opportunity to make a $10,000 donation to assist with funding of this important research, as New Zealanders need to know just how much calcium they should take in the form of a supplement.

“We encourage people to get as much calcium as possible from a balanced diet, but this is difficult for some people, so we need to be sure that people who need to take supplements don’ t take too many.”

(L-R: Professor Ian Reid, Auckland Bone Research Group, and Julia Gallagher, Executive Director, Osteoporosis New Zealand).