Fw: calcium citrate vs calcium carbonate

[Guest guest]

This came from a good friend who has had a DS 2 weeks ago, and it studying

hard to make sure she takes good care of herself:

> >Contact: Stieglitz

> >heather.stieglitz@...

> >

> >University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

> >

> >Calcium citrate trumps calcium carbonate in osteoporosis studies

> >DALLAS -- November 23, 1999--Three studies from UT Southwestern Medical

> >Center at Dallas researchers show that calcium citrate is better absorbed

> >than calcium carbonate and is effective at preventing osteoporosis in

early

> >post-menopausal women.

> >Osteoporosis -- or brittle-bone disease -- is a major health threat to 28

> >million Americans. About 10 million have the disease, and 18 million more

> >are at increased risk due to declining bone density caused by loss of

> >calcium within the bones. Forty percent of women and 13 percent of men

will

> >suffer a bone fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime.

> > " It is well-recognized that calcium supplements taken at the proper time

can

> >help prevent bone loss in elderly patients, " said Dr. Khashayar Sakhaee,

> >chief of mineral metabolism. " We are interested in seeing which

formulation

> >is most beneficial in preventing osteoporosis and in maintaining bone

> >density in early post-menopausal women. "

> >Two of the studies compared calcium citrate with calcium carbonate to see

> >which was better absorbed. Sakhaee and colleagues published their

analysis

> >of data from 15 previously published randomized trials evaluating

> >bioavailability (the amount of calcium absorbed from a supplement, rather

> >than the amount of calcium a supplement contains) in the

November-December

> >issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics. The second study,

published

> >by Dr. Heller, assistant professor of internal medicine, and

> >collaborators, in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical

Pharmacology

> >compared the absorption of two over-the-counter calcium supplements --

> >Citracal (calcium citrate) with Os-Cal (calcium carbonate). The

researchers

> >used classic pharmacokinetic techniques of measuring peak and cumulative

> >increase in blood calcium concentration over six hours following a single

> >oral dose instead of the indirect method of measuring change in urine

> >calcium excretion.

> >A third study, published by Sakhaee, former UT Southwestern faculty

member

> >Dr. Ruml and co-workers, also reported in the November-December

issue

> >of the American Journal of Therapeutics, compared the effect of calcium

> >citrate vs. a placebo in preventing bone loss in early post-menopausal

women

> >

> >All three studies confirmed the benefits of calcium citrate. The

conclusion

> >from the 15-trial analysis was that calcium citrate was absorbed 22

percent

> >to 27 percent better than calcium carbonate when taken either on an empty

> >stomach or with meals. Heller's study of commercial calcium preparations

> >concluded that Citracal was more " bioavailable " than Os-Cal; it was

absorbed

> >faster and to a greater extent.

> > " Our results show that even under the most favorable conditions, calcium

> >carbonate is not nearly as well-absorbed as calcium citrate, " Heller

said.

> >We were surprised at the magnitude of the difference in absorption

rates --

> >with calcium citrate being absorbed two and a half times better than

calcium

> >carbonate. "

> >The third study - the first of its kind - showed the benefits of calcium

> >citrate in early post-menopausal women. During the two-year study, 57

women

> >in early menopause (five years into menopause) and six mid-menopausal

women

> >(five to10 years into menopause) took either 800 milligrams of calcium

> >citrate or a placebo daily. Those taking calcium citrate averted bone

loss

> >by stabilizing the bone density in their spine, in the top part of the

thigh

> >bone (a common site of hip fractures) and in the small bone of the

forearm.

> >Women taking the placebo had a significant decrease over the two-year

period

> >in the densities of the spine and forearm, but showed no change in

> >thigh-bone density.

> > " This study shows that calcium-citrate treatment may be used alone in the

> >prevention of skeletal bone loss in early post-menopausal women, " said

> >Sakhaee. " The long-term effectiveness of calcium citrate is a

particularly

> >exciting therapeutic finding. "

> >UT Southwestern mineral metabolism researchers developed Citracal in

> >conjunction with Mission Pharmacal of San .

> >his news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at

http://www

> >swmed.edu/home_pages/news/

> >To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via e-mail,

send

> >a message to UTSWNEWS-REQUEST@... . Leave the subject line

> >blank and in the text box, type SUB UTSWNEWS

>

>

>

> " I gazed into the Abyss. The Abyss gazed back into me for a while...

> then I went home and watched B5. I don't know what the Abyss did.

> That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. "

>

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