This study aimed at identifying a calcium compound which could serve as an effective and safe dietary supplement in suckling rats over the period of intense growth and development. The main objective was to assess the effect of additional calcium intake on skeletal calcium in suckling pups. Suckling Wistar rats were fed using a pipettor with one of the following calcium salts from day 6 to 14 a...

BACKGROUND Adequate calcium intake is known to protect the skeleton. However, studies that have reported adverse effects of calcium supplementation on vascular events have raised widespread concern. OBJECTIVE We assessed the association between calcium intake (from diet and supplements) and coronary artery calcification, which is a measure of atherosclerosis that predicts risk of ischemic hea...

BACKGROUND Rates of vitamin-mineral supplement use by US female physicians are unknown but are of particular interest for several epidemiologic and clinical reasons. OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine rates of and variations in vitamin-mineral supplement use among US female physicians. DESIGN We used data from the Women Physicians' Health Study, a large (n = 4501) national, randomly s...

A 42-year-old female teetotaller presented via the accident and emergency department with a 2-day history of vomiting and upper abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. The aetiology of the pancreatitis was identified as hypercalcaemia secondary to oral calcium supplementation. The hypercalcaemia was corrected by stopping calcium supplements and aggressive fluid resuscitation....

In the United States, dietary supplements contribute a large proportion of micronutrient intakes. Therefore, it is important to collect accurate information on supplement use for studies of micronutrients and disease risk. This report describes the test-retest reliability and validity of a detailed, self-administered mailed questionnaire on vitamin and mineral supplement use. Participants (n = ...