For more information contact:Robert P. Heaney, M.D.402-280-4029[email protected]
Lori Elliott-Bartle402-280-2607[email protected]
RESEARCHERS DESCRIBE CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS CO-DEPENDENCE IN BONE DEVELOPMENT AT OSTEOPOROSIS SYMPOSIUM
Omaha, NE -- Healthy bones and soft tissues need both calcium and phosphorus to grow and develop throughout life. Research presented at the National Osteoporosis Foundation Fifth International Symposium March 9 showed for the first time that the nutrients are co-dependent in the health benefits associated with calcium in humans undergoing bone-building therapy.
"The best way to help our patients meet their needs is to use a source that provides both calcium and phosphorus, such as dairy products and/or a calcium phosphate supplement," said Dr. Robert P. Heaney of Creighton University. He was joined at the symposium by Dr. Ralph Shapiro of Product Safety Laboratories (Dayton, NJ) and Dr. John J.B. Anderson of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC).
"Women undergoing treatment for osteoporosis today typically are taking calcium supplements in amounts providing 1000 - 1500 mg of calcium per day," said Dr. Heaney. "Data shows that, in addition to providing the extra calcium a patient usually needs to slow bone loss or to support treatment-induced bone gain, this amount of calcium can bind up to 500 mg of phosphorus.
"Although this would present no serious problem for many people, it could impact women over 60 years of age who have diets that contain less than the National Academy of Sciences recommended daily allowance of 700 mg of phosphorus," Dr. Heaney continued. "For these women, the usual calcium supplement, calcium carbonate, may block most of the absorption of phosphorus. If this happens, the calcium won't do much good because bone mineral consists of both calcium and phosphorus."
Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Heaney recently completed a detailed study on the co-dependence of calcium and phosphorus on growth and bone development. The research could affect the formulation of many multi-vitamin and calcium supplement products available to consumers. It is estimated that people in about 20 million U.S. households take calcium supplements. The popularity of calcium supplements and calcium-fortified foods and beverages has reached record levels in recent years, since a 1984 conference on osteoporosis raised public awareness of the importance of calcium in bone development and recommended new, higher consumption levels for adults.
Since phosphate makes up more than half the mass of bone mineral, the panelists noted that diet must contain sufficient phosphorus if bone is to be built or rebuilt. Phosphorus inadequacy may be more prevalent than commonly believed, at least partly as a result of changes in diet (e.g., strict vegetarianism) and weight reduction programs. Phosphorus supplements are not widely used in the U.S.
Calcium phosphates have been widely used in analgesics and other pharmaceutical products for many years because of their excipient properties. (Excipients allow medications to be formed into specific shapes and help make them consistent. They may also work as the vehicle for the drug.) Now, as a result of the panelists' comments at the symposium, the value of calcium phosphates in nutritional and dietary supplements may become more widely recognized and more widely used.
"We conclude that, in any growth situation, both calcium and phosphorus are needed to support an increase in bone mass," said Dr. Shapiro. "If the diet is low in phosphorus, calcium supplementation alone will be inadequate, and may aggravate a phosphorus deficiency. A phosphorus-containing calcium source would seem to be preferable to one providing calcium alone."
"Individuals with low phosphorus intakes are at increased risk of low bone mass and fractures because of the development of serum phosphate concentrations below the normal range," said Dr. Anderson.
Dr. Robert P. Heaney is John A. Creighton University Professor at Creighton University and a principal scientist at Creighton's Osteoporosis Research Center. He was the co-chairperson of the Creighton University continuing medical education activity at the National Osteoporosis Foundation symposium, along with Dr. Pierre J. Meunier of the Hopital Edouard Herriot (Lyon, France).
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) is the leading nonprofit, voluntary health organization dedicated to promoting lifelong bone health in order to reduce the widespread prevalence of osteoporosis and associated fractures, while working to find a cure for the disease through programs of research, education and advocacy.
Rhodia, a major producer of calcium phosphates and one of the world's leaders in specialty chemicals, has been sponsoring research at Creighton University for the past three years. The company provided an educational grant for the National Osteoporosis Foundation symposium.
Creighton University is an independent, Catholic, comprehensive university operated by the Jesuits, who have a 500 year tradition of excellence in education. Creighton has been ranked at or near the top of Midwestern universities in the U.S. News & World Report magazine's "America's Best Colleges" edition for more than a decade.
Creighton enrolls more than 6,200 students of diverse faiths and races from across the United States and 65 countries. The student body is taught by 700 full-time faculty members in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, the Graduate School, University College; and Schools of Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, and Summer Sessions.
The University is located in Omaha, Nebraska (pop. 800,000 metro area) on a 92-acre campus adjacent to the downtown business district.
-- Lori Elliott-BartlePublic RelationsCreighton University2500 California PlazaOmaha NE 68178402.280.2607 (voice)402.280.2549 (fax)[email protected]
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