Pills can increase risk of stomach upsets and heart problems without cutting risk of broken bones

Up to five million Britons take calcium supplements regularly Taking calcium supplements might do more harm than good, experts warn today. But a collection of papers published in the British Medical Journal today conclude that increasing calcium intake, either through diet or supplements, does not reduce the risk of broken bones. ‘Our analyses indicate that dietary calcium intake is not associated with risk of fracture, and there is no evidence currently that increasing dietary calcium intake prevents fractures,’ they wrote. ‘Collectively, these results suggest that clinicians, advocacy organisations, and health policymakers should not recommend increasing calcium intake for fracture prevention, either with calcium supplements or through dietary sources.’ Professor Karl Michaëlsson from Uppsala University in Sweden, wrote in an accompanying editorial that people who take supplements may be exposing themselves to health problems. But he said: ‘The evidence currently available, however, gives us a strong signal that calcium supplements with or without vitamin D do not protect older people in general from fractures.