The answer is No. Taking calcium supplements over a long period of time
doesn't help bone density. A long term study just released involving
10,000 women showed less than 1% increase in bone density. Out of 10,000
women study, 39 had hip fractures in the supplement group and 45 had hip
fractures in the placebo group. An insignificant difference. The report
states a better percentage but they seem to be playing with the figuires.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1622934&page=1.
I myself am beginning to question whether any supplements are helpful to
the average person. Maybe helpful to some in third world countries and a
few others with specific deficiencies.
If a person had blood test done and confirmed a deficiency then he should
take supplements. I've been taking multi-vitamins and B supplemnts for
some time until I had blood test for multi-focal motor neuropathy and
found my B-6 was too high. Everything else was normal. I stopped taking
the supplements assuming they were being left in the toilet for the most
part.  
Ron S.

The evidence about this is ambiguous.  A recent double blind study of a
large grooup of women found that taking calcium supplements had no
statistically significant effect on osteoporosis.   But there were some
methdological problems with the study, the primary one of which was that
both the women in the control group (taking a placebo) and the women in
the supplement group weren't consistent in what they did.  For women who
were consistent and for older women, there was an effect.  But
statisticians argued that it was improper under the circumstances to
consider subgroups.  Some of these statistical disputes seem almost
theological when a lay person looks at them.  Other studies have shown
taking supplements does help, but I think at present the best we can say
is that the matter is still unclear.

There have been some studies which show an association between high
calcium intake and development of prostate cancer, but apparently not
all studies show this.  I don't know if there have been any studies on
calcium intake and recurrence of treated prostate cancer, which might be
an entirely different matter.   You should read what Walsh says about it
in his "Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer".  He says that it is
believed that calcium can promote cancer by interfering with Vitamin D
metabolism.  He also says that a diet high in fruit may protect against
this effect.  (So fruit yogurt might be fine.)

The problem is that, osteoporosis aside,  calcium intake may have other
positive effects, e.g., lower blood pressure and reduced risk of colon
cancer.  In the presence of uncertain knowledge, it is hard to balance
these factors against one another.   In my case, I had a very clean post
surgical pathology report, and I am at increased risk of colon cancer
because of family history.  Also, I would like to avoid blood pressure
medication because of possible side effects.   In one of the original
studies, of Harvard physicians, it was found that an intake of the
equivalent of more than 4 glasses of milk a day led to increased
incidence of postate cancer.  I used to take in at least that much since
I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian.   I've reduced my intake somewhat but not
down to the equivalent of 2 glasses of milk, which might be "safe".  I
do restrict myself to no-fat milk products, and I eat lots of fruit,
which I would do anyway.

If you find anything new on the subject, let us know.

Claude,

I think that the study that you are referring to showed an increased
risk of prostate cancer correlated to higher dairy intake.  While the
assumption was made that this was due to the calcium in the dairy, my
own opinion is that it is due to the fact that they use the synthetic
vitamin D2 in dairy products, which is a different chemical than the
actual vitamin D3 found in nature.  The D2 may bind to prostate
receptors in ways that prevent D3 from binding and doing its job to
protect you from prostate cancer.

Also, as other posters have noted, taking calcium citrate is much
preferable to taking calcium carbonate (which has been shown to be as
little as 2% absorbed into the body for stomach pH's of 6.5).  Also, a
study showed that 100% of elderly people who started to fall and lose
the ability to walk had vitamin D deficiency.  When treated with vitamin
D, no benefit was noted.  However, when treated with vitamin D (1000 IU)
and calcium (1200 mg) each day, all of them improved.

Finally, if you ever go onto hormonal blockade, calcium is the main
cause of apoptosis for the PCa.  While this apoptosis has been noted at
normal levels of calcium, and no study to my knowledge has been done to
show that higher levels of calcium increase the apoptosis, it certainly
shouldn't hurt.

Ed Friedman

<snip>
Calcium Supplements even augmented by Vitamin D do NOT restore thinned
bone structure which has been ravaged by ADT.

This also goes for a lot of other Vitamin Supplements claiming to do
wonders. In fact a lot of them can damage your liver and kidney
functions with sustained usage.

It's just another "Bottom Line" scam!

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