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Serum calcium associated with mortality, not CHD events
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There is a U-shaped association between serum calcium and all-cause mortality, but it differs between black and white individuals, according to new findings.
Additionally, researchers found serum calcium levels are not associated with incident coronary heart disease or ischemic stroke incidence in black or white adults.
Jun Ling Lu, MD, senior clinical research coordinator in the department of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and colleagues performed an observational study on veterans (n = 1,967,622; mean age, 61 years; 15% black; 93% men; estimated glomerular filtration rate 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) to determine the association between corrected serum calcium and all-cause mortality, incident CHD and stroke for black and white individuals.
The researchers found a U-shaped association between corrected serum calcium and all-cause mortality in both white and black individuals. For both races, calcium levels less than 8.8 mg/dL and at least 10 mg/dL were associated with increased risk for mortality, but levels 8.8 mg/dL to less than 10 mg/dL were not.
However, compared with white adults, black adults had lower risk for mortality when calcium was at least 8.8 mg/dL and higher risk for mortality when calcium was less than 8.8 mg/dL (P for interaction < .001). There was no significant association between calcium and stroke (P for interaction = .37) or incident CHD (P for interaction = .11) for either race.
“Compared to white patients, [black] individuals have higher intestinal absorption and lower urine excretion of calcium,” the researchers wrote. “Their [bone mineral density] is also higher than in other races, in spite of lower serum total [25-hydroxyvitamin] levels; the latter could be related to genetic traits affecting vitamin D binding protein levels. Such differences may underlie the reasons for relatively lower mortality in [black] individuals with elevated calcium levels, although we could not substantiate race-specific differences in the association between calcium levels and occlusive cardiovascular events.” – by Cassie Homer
Disclosure: Lu reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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