Association between Daily Dietary Calcium Intake and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in Postmenopausal Korean Women

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 16; no. 7; p. 1043
• Main Authors: Lee, Jae Kyung, Tran, Thi Minh Chau, Choi, Euna, Baek, Jinkyung, Kim, Hae-Rim, Kim, Heeyon, Yun, Bo Hyon, Seo, Seok Kyo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.04.2024
• Subjects: Age; Alcohol use; Angina pectoris; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Bone density; Calcium; Calcium, Dietary; Cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; cross-sectional study; Diabetes; dietary calcium intake; Disease control; Education; Exercise; Female; Health surveys; Heart attack; Hormone replacement therapy; Humans; Hypertension; Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHANES); Menopause; Metabolic disorders; Muscle contraction; Myocardial Infarction - epidemiology; Myocardial Infarction - etiology; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Oral contraceptives; Physical fitness; Postmenopausal women; Postmenopause; Regression analysis; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Risk factors; Stroke; Surveys; Womens health; Republic of Korea; South Korea; United States > US; Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHANES); dietary calcium intake; cross-sectional study; cardiovascular diseases; menopause; postmenopausal women
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu16071043

We aimed to evaluate the association between daily dietary calcium intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in postmenopausal women using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). This cross-sectional study included 12,348 women aged 45-70 years who had reached natural menopause. They were classified into three groups according to daily dietary calcium intake: <400 mg, 400-800 mg, and >800 mg. The risks of CVD, stroke, angina, and myocardial infarction were assessed in each group. Further, we performed subgroup analysis according to the post-menopause duration (≤10 vs. >10 postmenopausal years). We performed logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, menopausal age, income, urban area, education, insulin use, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, high alcohol intake, smoking, exercise, oral contraceptive use, and hormonal therapy use. Calcium intake level was not significantly associated with the risk of CVD in the total population and the ≤10 postmenopausal years subgroup. However, in the >10 postmenopausal years subgroup, daily calcium intake >800 mg was associated with significantly decreased risks of all CVD (odds ratio [OR], 0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.64), stroke (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01-0.42), and myocardial infarction (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.11-0.64). Our findings suggest that a dietary calcium intake of >800 mg/day decreases the risk of CVD events in women who have been menopausal for >10 years.