By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Nov 10, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- A review article in Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology suggests that taking calcium supplements to treat osteoporosis does not increase risk of kidney stone.

G. Candelas of Rheumatology Unit, Hospital Clinico de San Carlos in Madrid, Spain and colleagues reviewed previous studies and found no evidence to suggest that taking calcium supplements in the treatment of osteoporosis increases risk of kidney stone.

Researchers researched databases including Medline and Embase and the Cochrance Central register of Controlled Trials for studies on calcium supplementation and osteoporosis, which were published before 2010.

In total, 8 randomized controlled trials and two cohort studies of moderate quality were identified, which involved 8,000 patients at a mean age of 50 to 70 years at baseline.  Patients took calcium supplements in a dose ranging from 120 mg to 1,500 mg per day for three days to three years.

Changes in urinary sediment were found but not clinically relevant.  No cases of nephrolitiasis were found in more than half the studies.  In total, three cases of kidney stone, two cases of urinary tract calcification, 16 cases of nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis and four cases of haematuria and five patients complaining about kidney pain.

The researchers concluded"calcium supplements in the treatment of osteoporosis alone or in combination with another type of treatment does not significantly increase the risk of nephrolithiasis or renal colic."