Low calcium dose may prevent preeclampsia, preterm birth risk: Study

Lower than the World Health Organization WHO recommended calcium supplementation equivalent to one 500milligram pill per day may help prevent preeclampsia and preterm birth common complications in pregnancy that can be fatal to women and newborns suggests a large study on pregnant women in India and TanzaniaCalcium supplementation is estimated to halve a pregnant womans risk of developing preeclampsia and reduce an infants risk of being born preterm by 25 per centHowever the study by Harvard University researchers is the first to evaluate the efficacy of a lowdose regimen versus a highdose regimen currently recommended by the WHO equivalent to three 500milligram pills taken throughout each dayThe study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that lowdose calcium supplementation was as effective as highdose calcium supplementation in preventing the risk of preeclampsiaOverall our findings show that a single pill per day can be as effective as three said joint first author Christopher Sudfeld associate professor of global health and nutritionWith a reduced pill burden for women and lower costs for governments and programmes that buy calcium pills calcium supplementation should be considered widely implementable in the places its needed most and should start saving thousands of maternal and newborn lives Sudfeld addedThe researchers conducted two randomised doubleblind trials of 11000 pregnant women in India and 11000 pregnant women in Tanzania to assess if 500 mg of calcium per day was as effective as 1500 mg of calcium per day in reducing the risks of preeclampsia and preterm birth defined as birth before 37 weeks of gestationAll of the participants were pregnant for the first time putting them at higher risk for preeclampsia Starting at less than 20 weeks of pregnancy they received monthly supplies of daily calcium supplementation consisting of either three 500mg calcium pills or one 500 mg calcium pill and two placebo pillsTheir health was monitored during clinic visits each month of their pregnancy at delivery and at six weeks postpartumIn the India trial the incidence of preeclampsia was 30 per cent among women taking 500 mg of calcium daily and 36 per cent among women taking 1500 mg of calcium daily In the Tanzania trial the incidence of preeclampsia was 30 per cent and 27 per cent respectivelyThe findings on preterm birth were mixed In the India trial the incidence of preterm birth was 114 per cent among women taking 500 mg of calcium daily and 128 per cent among women taking 1500 mg of calcium daily indicating a similar effect of the two doses In the Tanzania trial the incidence of preterm birth was slightly different 104 per cent and 97 per cent respectivelyHowever when the researchers pooled the data from both trials they found the effect of lowdose supplementation was not significantly different on preterm birth compared to highdose supplementationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever