From: hounddog23x@gmail.com   
      
   Posted on: Thursday, April 2nd 2015 at 5:30 pm    
      
   Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder    
      
      
   Taking Calcium Supplements Causes Brain Lesions    
      
   Taking calcium supplements -- even at low doses -- linked to brain lesions in   
   the first study of its kind.    
      
   Most calcium supplements are just plain bad news. The idea of taking calcium   
   in pill or tablet form to "keep the bones strong" just doesn't make that much   
   sense given, first, that we are designed to get our calcium from food. Second,   
   our bone is a living    
   tissue, which requires vitamin C, amino acids, magnesium, silica, vitamins D   
   and K, etc., not to mention regular physical activity, just as much as it does   
   calcium. Taking calcium to the exclusion of these other critical factors   
   doesn't make sense; nor    
   does it make sense to look at osteoporosis as a deficiency of calcium   
   supplements!    
   As we have reported on extensively in the past, not only is consuming   
   limestone, bone, and the shells of oysters and eggs not a good idea because   
   the calcium can deposit in our soft tissues leading to heart attacks and   
   strokes, but even the goal of    
   maintaining bones as dense as a 25-year old late into life (known as the   
   T-score) is fraught with danger, including a far higher breast cancer risk for   
   those with the highest bone density. Instead of pathologizing aging, and   
   focusing on making the bone    
   denser by any means necessary, the focus should be on bone quality and agility   
   and bodily self-awareness late into life, which helps the elderly prevent the   
   falls that lead to fracture in the first place. In other words, simply having   
   a gait or vision    
   disorder can be at least as an important factor in fracture risk as bone   
   mineral density.    
   The problem with poor quality, inorganic, calcium supplements, however, does   
   not stop with their contribution to cardiovascular disease risk. A combination   
   of factors including low magnesium, vitamin K2 and the presence of fluoride in   
   the water and diet    
   can lead to pineal gland calcification, as well as the calcification of other   
   brain structures, which recently has been hypothesized to be a contributing   
   factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.    
   British Nutrition Journal: Brain Calcium Lesions    
      
   A truly provocative study on this topic published last year in the British   
   Journal of Nutrition somehow slipped through the cracks, because not only did   
   we miss it but we do not recall it being reported elsewhere. Titled, "Elevated   
   brain lesion volumes    
   in older adults who use calcium supplements: a cross-sectional clinical   
   observational study," the study looked at the possibility that since calcium   
   supplements have now been linked in multiple studies with vascular pathologies   
   associated with    
   cardiovascular diseas they may also be associated with the occurrence of brain   
   lesions (known on MRI scans as hyperintensities) in older adults. These brain   
   lesions, visible as brighter spots in MRI scans, are known to be caused by   
   lack of blood flow (   
   ischemia) and subsequent neurological damage.    
   Brain Scan: MRI, Hyperintensities    
      
   According to the study,    
   "Brain lesions,also known as hyperintensities, are areas of damage observed on   
   brain MRI (See Above). These lesions are common in older adults and increase   
   the risk of devastating health outcomes, including depression, cognitive   
   decline, dementia, stroke,   
    physical disability, hip fracture and death. Postmortem studies have   
   determined that these lesions form primarily due to ischemia, especially   
   larger lesions (.3mm) and lesions found in depressed individuals."    
      
   The observational study enrolled 227 older adults (60 years above) and   
   assessed food and supplemental calcium intakes. Participants with supplemental   
   calcium use above zero were categorized as supplement users. Lesion volumes   
   were assessed with MRI scans.   
       
      
   Key findings were:    
      
   Greater lesion volumes were found among calcium supplement users than   
   non-users    
      
   The influence of calcium supplements was of a magnitude similar to that of the   
   influence of high blood pressure (hypertension), "a well-established risk   
   factor for lesions."    
      
   The study found that the amount of calcium used was not associated with lesion   
   volume and that "even low-dose supplements, by older adults may be associated   
   with greater lesion volumes."    
      
   Even after controlling for food calcium intake, age, sex, race, years of   
   education, energy intake, depression and hypertension, the association between   
   calcium supplement and lesion volumes held strong.    
      
   The study details were summarized as follows:    
      
   "In the present cross-sectional clinical observational study, the association   
   between Ca-containing dietary supplement use and lesion volumes was   
   investigated in a sample of 227 older adults (60 years and above). Food and   
   supplemental Ca intakes were    
   assessed with the Block 1998 FFQ; participants with supplemental Ca intake   
   above zero were categorised as supplement users. Lesion volumes were   
   determined from cranial MRI (1.5 tesla) scans using a semi-automated   
   technique; volumes were log-transformed    
   because they were non-normal. ANCOVA models revealed that supplement users had   
   greater lesion volumes than non-users, even after controlling for food Ca   
   intake, age, sex, race, years of education, energy intake, depression and   
   hypertension (Ca supplement    
   use: β = 0.34, SE 0.10, F(1,217)= 10.98, P= 0.0011). The influence of   
   supplemental Ca use on lesion volume was of a magnitude similar to that of the   
   influence of hypertension, a well-established risk factor for lesions. Among   
   the supplement users, the    
   amount of supplemental Ca was not associated with lesion volume (β = -   
   0.000035, SE 0.00 015, F(1,139)= 0.06, P= 0.81). The present study   
   demonstrates that the use of Ca-containing dietary supplements, even low-dose   
   supplements, by older adults may be    
   associated with greater lesion volumes. Evaluation of randomised controlled   
   trials is warranted to determine whether this relationship is a causal one."    
      
   What is the mechanism beneath this association?    
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)