A LATEST medical study found that taking calcium supplement may not at all be  helpful to women and it can even increase the risk of heart attack.

While women are advised to take calcium supplement to prevent osteoporosis especially  after menopause, a new research published in the British Medical Journal reported that postmenopausal women who took calcium supplements increased their risk of heart attack by 25 to 30 percent and stroke by 15 to 20 percent.

According to the study’s lead author Dr. Ian Reid, calcium supplements, unlike calcium-rich foods, such as milk, increase blood calcium levels for a few hours after they’re taken. This may raise risk of heart disease possibly because the calcium is deposited in the walls of the arteries, making them less pliable.

On the other hand, there are different views from other experts who conducted their own study saying that calcium may help the heart and that postmenopausal women given calcium supplements had a slightly lower risk of stroke and heart disease.

But a report by Prof. Joe Cummins in the Institute of Science in Society in United Kingdom said a study of 108 sudden coronary deaths at autopsy carried out in 2000 in the United States revealed that calcification was present in 55 percent of men and women under 40 years, and some calcification was present in all men by age 50 and by the age of 60 in all women.

Calcification in atherosclerosis (progressive narrowing and hardening of the arteries) is associated with ruptured plaques (deposit of fatty and calcium substances that accumulate in the lining of the artery wall)

To be sure, before you start or stop taking calcium supplements, talk first to your doctor. Women aged 19 to 50 need 1,000 mg per day; for women 51+ it’s 1,200 mg daily. It’s possible to meet these recommendations through food. Dairy products are good choices (choose nonfat or low-fat to limit saturated fat).