How is your Calcium
How is your calcium? Feb
11
How is your calcium? Is it good or bad? Does it help you or hurt you? Where is it? Evaluating calcium in humans is a lot like evaluating a piece of real estate: It is all about location, location, location.
First, the good places: More than 99% is in teeth, bones, or blood and intra- and extracellular fluid.
Then, the bad places: soft tissues; kidneys and urinary tract; artery and vein walls; tumors; female breasts; or as part of resolving necrosis or cellular degeneration.
How does it get there? Calcium in, calcium out. Calcium in: maybe a supplement of 1000 mg/day orally for an adult. Calcium out: via urine and feces, with the retained calcium being managed by spectacular metabolic homeostasis. It is a very delicate balance.
One of the ways that calcium appears in seemingly unwanted locations is called “dystrophic calcification,” and its presence seems relatively inert.
Can you move calcium around in the body? Maybe not moving individual calcium moieties from place to place, but can you regulate how much of what kind of calcium is in any one place at any one time?
Like the Blind Man and the Elephant: Point of View Matters
The nutritionists would say: This is all about diet.
The endocrinologists would say…a lot; they really know this field.
The imagers would say: I love calcium; it gives me so many fun things to look at, measure, and analyze to try to predict importance.
The urologists would say: I can take care of your stones. We will flush them out or pluck them out or shake them into small pieces with the lithotripter. And by the way, here is your $30,000 bill.
The mammographers and breast surgeons would say: If I did not have calcium flecks to find in the mammogram, I might have a really hard time justifying biopsies.
The procedural interventionists would say: Send me your calcified arteries; I have a stent for you.
Big pharma would say: We have lots of drugs.
The outlier chelationists would say: We can give you some IV infusions to get rid of all that bad stuff.
As a pathologist, I have cut—or, more accurately, sawed—a whole lot of bones, healthy and diseased. It is really good to have a lot of calcium as hydroxyapatite there, in the bone. I have cut up a lot of kidneys destroyed by stones obstructing the urinary tract. Calcium can be really bad to have there. I have longitudinally opened or perpendicularly transected many hundreds of large and small arteries; many normal, many diseased by narrowing; many occluded by atherosclerotic plaque, intraplaque hemorrhage, cholesterol, thrombus (acute, evolving, organized, or recanalized), and calcified; sometimes very thick, hard, brittle, even rigid; and especially in arteries of hearts, brains, necks, chests, bellies, legs. Bad.
But which came first: the chicken or the egg? Was the vascular wall calcium an instigating progenitor, a fellow traveler as simple dystrophy, a part of the inflammatory pathogenesis, or a culminating bony add-on for advanced atherosclerosis? Those are really good questions.
Here’s the new stuff. A large volume of alternative literature has been hyping vitamin K2 as active in preventing or treating arterial calcification for years. But serious science now seems to be backing that up. The relationship of vitamin D, vitamin K2, and calcium may hold a real key to a better understanding of harmful arterial calcification. Check it out; keep an open mind; more
11
How is your calcium? Is it good or bad? Does it help you or hurt you? Where is it? Evaluating calcium in humans is a lot like evaluating a piece of real estate: It is all about location, location, location.
First, the good places: More than 99% is in teeth, bones, or blood and intra- and extracellular fluid.
Then, the bad places: soft tissues; kidneys and urinary tract; artery and vein walls; tumors; female breasts; or as part of resolving necrosis or cellular degeneration.
How does it get there? Calcium in, calcium out. Calcium in: maybe a supplement of 1000 mg/day orally for an adult. Calcium out: via urine and feces, with the retained calcium being managed by spectacular metabolic homeostasis. It is a very delicate balance.
One of the ways that calcium appears in seemingly unwanted locations is called “dystrophic calcification,” and its presence seems relatively inert.
Can you move calcium around in the body? Maybe not moving individual calcium moieties from place to place, but can you regulate how much of what kind of calcium is in any one place at any one time?
Like the Blind Man and the Elephant: Point of View Matters
The nutritionists would say: This is all about diet.
The endocrinologists would say…a lot; they really know this field.
The imagers would say: I love calcium; it gives me so many fun things to look at, measure, and analyze to try to predict importance.
The urologists would say: I can take care of your stones. We will flush them out or pluck them out or shake them into small pieces with the lithotripter. And by the way, here is your $30,000 bill.
The mammographers and breast surgeons would say: If I did not have calcium flecks to find in the mammogram, I might have a really hard time justifying biopsies.
The procedural interventionists would say: Send me your calcified arteries; I have a stent for you.
Big pharma would say: We have lots of drugs.
The outlier chelationists would say: We can give you some IV infusions to get rid of all that bad stuff.
As a pathologist, I have cut—or, more accurately, sawed—a whole lot of bones, healthy and diseased. It is really good to have a lot of calcium as hydroxyapatite there, in the bone. I have cut up a lot of kidneys destroyed by stones obstructing the urinary tract. Calcium can be really bad to have there. I have longitudinally opened or perpendicularly transected many hundreds of large and small arteries; many normal, many diseased by narrowing; many occluded by atherosclerotic plaque, intraplaque hemorrhage, cholesterol, thrombus (acute, evolving, organized, or recanalized), and calcified; sometimes very thick, hard, brittle, even rigid; and especially in arteries of hearts, brains, necks, chests, bellies, legs. Bad.
But which came first: the chicken or the egg? Was the vascular wall calcium an instigating progenitor, a fellow traveler as simple dystrophy, a part of the inflammatory pathogenesis, or a culminating bony add-on for advanced atherosclerosis? Those are really good questions.
Here’s the new stuff. A large volume of alternative literature has been hyping vitamin K2 as active in preventing or treating arterial calcification for years. But serious science now seems to be backing that up. The relationship of vitamin D, vitamin K2, and calcium may hold a real key to a better understanding of harmful arterial calcification. Check it out; keep an open mind; more
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Thanks for informative literature on Calcium. In medicines, Calcium is available in many forms like Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Citrate, formulation from milk, sea shell etc. Some times elemental calcium is also written in ingredients, which has different ratios to total in each formulation. Phosphorus, Zinc, Magnesium are also said to be an important part of bone formation with Calcium. Calcium Citrate is said to be the best for better absorption. The calcium tablets are available in various combination added with zinc, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2 7 etc. There are also guidelines for taking with or even without food for better absorption. You may like to intimate the best form of calcium with minimum elemental calcium with other elements, minerals, vitamins etc., time of taking it with or without food, maximum period for taking when calcium by test in normal limits, the breaking time to restart taking calcium. With my both thigh bone fractured in Jan 10 and Nov, 13 respectively and erosion in teeth, leading to whole mouth teeth rehabilitation, I have been taking calcium in carbonate and citrate form regularly since 2008 or even much before, though the latest report in Nov, 13, Calcium & phosphorous is normal. You may also like delve upon role of Vitamin B1, B2, B12, few minerals, if any and their minimum requirements for formulation of ideal calcium tablets/syrups, ill effects if calcium is more in test. If possible, can you tell us few best combinations of calcium tablets available including with not much effect on pocket in economical prices with brand names and companies and also the similar/nearest in generic medicines in overall interests of Indian citizens & members of this group without any prejudice to other brands/generics ? With best wishes and kind regards, more
May 03
I fully agree with Dr. Arpan Gandhi that First, the good places: More than 99% is in teeth, bones, or blood and intra- and extracellular fluid. Then, the bad places: soft tissues; kidneys and urinary tract; artery and vein walls; tumors; female breasts; or as part of resolving necrosis or cellular degeneration. How does it get there? Calcium in, calcium out. Calcium in: maybe a supplement of 1000 mg/day orally for an adult. Calcium out: via urine and feces, with the retained calcium being managed by spectacular metabolic homeostasis. It is a very delicate balance. One of the ways that calcium appears in seemingly unwanted locations is called “dystrophic calcification,” and its presence seems relatively inert. Can you move calcium around in the body? Maybe not moving individual calcium moieties from place to place, but can you regulate how much of what kind of calcium is in any one place at any one time? Like the Blind Man and the Elephant: Point of View Matters The nutritionists would say: This is all about diet. The endocrinologists would say…a lot; they really know this field. The imagers would say: I love calcium; it gives me so many fun things to look at, measure, and analyze to try to predict importance. The urologists would say: I can take care of your stones. We will flush them out or pluck them out or shake them into small pieces with the lithotripter. And by the way, here is your $30,000 bill. The mammographers and breast surgeons would say: If I did not have calcium flecks to find in the mammogram, I might have a really hard time justifying biopsies. The procedural interventionists would say: Send me your calcified arteries; I have a stent for you. Big pharma would say: We have lots of drugs. The outlier chelationists would say: We can give you some IV infusions to get rid of all that bad stuff. As a pathologist, I have cut—or, more accurately, sawed—a whole lot of bones, healthy and diseased. It is really good to have a lot of calcium as hydroxyapatite there, in the bone. I have cut up a lot of kidneys destroyed by stones obstructing the urinary tract. Calcium can be really bad to have there. I have longitudinally opened or perpendicularly transected many hundreds of large and small arteries; many normal, many diseased by narrowing; many occluded by atherosclerotic plaque, intraplaque hemorrhage, cholesterol, thrombus (acute, evolving, organized, or recanalized), and calcified; sometimes very thick, hard, brittle, even rigid; and especially in arteries of hearts, brains, necks, chests, bellies, legs. Bad. But which came first: the chicken or the egg? Was the vascular wall calcium an instigating progenitor, a fellow traveler as simple dystrophy, a part of the inflammatory pathogenesis, or a culminating bony add-on for advanced atherosclerosis? Those are really good questions. Here’s the new stuff. A large volume of alternative literature has been hyping vitamin K2 as active in preventing or treating arterial calcification for years. But serious science now seems to be backing that up. The relationship of vitamin D, vitamin K2, and calcium may hold a real key to a better understanding of harmful arterial calcification. Check it out; keep an open mind; Dr. Arpan Gandhi Ji need to educate people on this subject for their welfare, but not for his own profit or selfishness. more
May 02
Anil Ideal doses of Vitamins Vitamin A Men: 3,000 IU/day Women: 2,310 IU/day 10,000 IU/day Vitamin B3 ( Niacin) Men: 16 mg/day Women: 14 mg/day 35 mg/day This applies only to niacin in supplements or fortified foods. There is no upper limit for niacin in natural sources. Vitamin B6 Men age 19-50: 1.3 mg/day Men age 51 up:1.7 mg/day Women age 19-50: 1.3 mg/day Women age 51 up: 1.5 mg/day 100 mg/day Vitamin C Men: 90 mg/day Women: 75 mg/day 2,000 mg/day Vitamin D (Calciferol) Age 1-70: 15 micrograms/day (600 IU, or international units) * Age 70 and older: 20 micrograms/day (800 IU) * 100 micrograms/day (4,000 IU) Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 22.4 IU/day 1,500 IU/day This applies only to vitamin E in supplements or fortified foods. There is no upper limit for vitami more
May 01
Thank you for this informative article. Is it true that Vitamin A D E & K are fat solubles? Please enlighten us as to how does one maintain a balance intake of these 4 Vitamins to prevent arterial calcification without excess being stored in our fat cells. more
May 01
