Summary: A long-term study of more than 1,400 older women found no evidence that calcium supplements increase dementia risk, easing previous concerns about their safety. Conducted over 14.5 years, the research compared women taking calcium monotherapy to those given a placebo and found no difference in cognitive outcomes.
Even after accounting for genetics, diet, and lifestyle, calcium use showed no harmful link to brain health. The findings provide strong reassurance that calcium supplements, often prescribed to prevent fractures and osteoporosis, are safe for older women’s cognitive function.
Key Facts:
- No Dementia Link: Calcium supplements did not increase dementia risk over a 14.5-year follow-up.
- Robust Design: Findings are based on a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 1,460 women.
- Reassuring for Patients: Supports the safety of calcium supplementation for bone health in older women.
Source: Edith Cowan University
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU), Curtin University and the University of Western Australia has found no evidence that calcium monotherapy increases the long-term risk for dementia, helping to dispel previous concerns about its potential negative effects on brain health in older women.
This study, which leveraged outcomes from prior research that provided calcium supplements or a placebo to 1,460 older women over a five-year period, found that the supplement did not increase the long-term risk of dementia.
“Calcium supplements are often recommended to prevent or manage osteoporosis,” said ECU PhD student Ms Negar Ghasemifard.
Around 20 per cent of women over the age of 70 are affected by osteoporosis and calcium supplementation is widely recommended as a preventative measure against fracture.
“Previous research has raised concerns around the impacts that calcium supplements could have on cognitive health, particularly dementia.
“Results from our study provides reassurance to patients and clinicians regarding the safety of calcium supplements in the context of dementia risk for older women,” Ms Ghasemifard said.
ECU Senior Research Fellow Dr Marc Sim noted that when the analysis was adjusted for supplement compliance, a range of lifestyle factors, including dietary calcium intake and genetic risk, the results remained unchanged.
“Previous research suggesting potential links between calcium supplement use and the risk for dementia was purely observational in nature. Our research, in comparison, consisted of a post-hoc analysis from a 5-year double-blind, placebo controlled randomised clinical trial on calcium supplements to prevent fracture. Whilst our study is still epidemiology, its design does reduce the likelihood of unmeasured confounding”
“Some 730 older women were given calcium supplements over five years, and a further 730 were given placebo. This study design offers more accurate data on dosage and duration, and we had a long follow-up period of 14.5 years, which strengthens our results,” Dr Sim said.
While these findings may alleviate concerns regarding calcium supplementation and all-cause dementia risk in older women, particularly after the age of 80 years, Professor Simon Laws, Director of ECU’s Centre for Precision Health, said further research was required.
“Whether this extrapolates to other demographics, such as men or even women commencing supplementation earlier in life, remains unknown. To confirm the current findings, particularly regarding brain health, and to address these population gaps, future clinical trials of calcium supplements, with or without vitamin D, would need to be undertaken. These should include specific and robust assessments of brain health as the primary outcome measures.”
Professor Blossom Stephan, a Dementia Australia Honorary Medical Advisor said the research highlighted a very important finding that provides reassurance to clinicians and patients about the long-term safety of calcium supplementation.
“Given calcium’s critical role in multiple physiological functions, including bone health, these results provide reassurance that long-term calcium supplementation did not increase dementia risk in older women,” she said.
Key Questions Answered:
A: It found no evidence that calcium supplements increase long-term dementia risk in older women.
A: It used a 5-year double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with nearly 15 years of follow-up, reducing the bias common in observational studies.
A: Yes, the findings support continued use for bone health, but further research is needed to confirm effects in men and younger populations.
About this supplements and brain health research news
Author: Esmarie Iannucci
Source: Edith Cowan University
Contact: Esmarie Iannucci – Edith Cowan University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Calcium supplementation and the risk of dementia in the Perth Longitudinal Study of Aging Women: a post-hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial for fracture prevention” by Negar Ghasemifard et al. Lancet
Abstract
Calcium supplementation and the risk of dementia in the Perth Longitudinal Study of Aging Women: a post-hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial for fracture prevention
Background
Concerns have been raised around whether calcium supplements increase dementia risk. This post-hoc analysis of a five-year double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial of calcium supplements for primary fracture prevention evaluated the long-term risk for dementia in older women, randomised to either calcium supplements or placebo.
Methods
1460 community-dwelling dementia-free Australian women (≥70 years) were randomised to 1200 mg/day calcium carbonate (n = 730) or placebo (n = 730) for five years and were observed for an additional 9.5 years afterwards. Over 14.5 years, all-cause dementia events (comprising dementia-related hospitalisations and/or deaths) were identified from linked health records.
The influence of calcium supplementation on dementia outcomes were examined using Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox regression under intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP, ≥80% tablet compliance, n = 830; 50.6% calcium supplements) criteria.
Findings
Mean baseline age was 75.1 ± 2.7 years. Dementia events were recorded in 269 women (18.4%), comprising 243 hospitalisations (16.6%) or 114 deaths (7.8%). No differences in the cumulative dementia-free survival rates were observed between groups in ITT and PP analyses.
Compared to placebo, calcium supplements did not increase risk of dementia-related events (unadjusted ITT hazard ratio [HR] 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71–1.15), hospitalisations (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.69–1.15) or deaths (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.54–1.13). Similar results were observed in PP analyses.
Interpretation
Calcium supplementation for five years did not increase the risk of all-cause dementia events over 14.5 years in community-dwelling older women. Findings do not support concerns that calcium supplementation increases long-term risk of dementia.
Funding
National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
