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High Dietary Calcium Intake Associated with Lower Age-Related Hypertension
A DGReview of :"Dietary calcium lowers the age-related rise in blood pressure in the United States: the NHANES III survey"
Journal of Clinical Hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.)
07/16/2003
By Emma Hitt, PhD
People who consume high levels of calcium appear to have lower rates of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse pressure, according to a new analysis of data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).
In industrialised nations, SBP increases with age, whereas diastolic blood pressure (DBP) tends to decrease with age, thereby increasing pulse pressure (defined as the difference between SBP and DBP). Observational studies have suggested that dietary calcium might decrease blood pressure levels. However, no study has investigated the association between calcium and age-related changes in blood pressure.
Ihab Hajjar, MD, with the Palmetto Health Alliance/University of South Carolina, Columbia, and colleagues analysed data on 17,030 participants aged 20 years or older (mean age, 48.8 years; 47% male; 42% Caucasian, 28% African American). All were participants of NHANES, a population-based survey of non-institutionalised adults in the United States. Overall, average calcium intake was 761 mg/day.
After adjusting for demographic and anthropomorphic variables, the researchers found that higher calcium intake was associated with lower rates of age-related increases of systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure (p<0.001).
According to the researchers, the mechanism whereby calcium attenuates age-related increases in blood pressure may be due to its effect on vascular reactivity. Furthermore, one trial has found that calcium supplementation decreased vascular resistance and regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in African-American males with hypertension.
"If the calcium intake of the general population were to increase to above 1,200 mg, the incidence of isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly might be decreased," Dr. Hajjar and colleagues conclude. "Potentially this would have a significant impact on decreasing hypertension related morbidity and mortality."
J Clin Hypertens 2003;5:2:122-126.
"Dietary calcium lowers the age-related rise in blood pressure in the United States: the NHANES III survey"
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