Effects on blood pressure of calcium supplementation of women

The relationship between dietary and supplemental (1.5 g/d) calcium intake and blood pressure was examined in 81 normotensive and 34 medicated hypertensive women between the ages of 35 and 65 years who completed a 4-yr clinical trial to assess age-associated bone loss in women. Calcium intakes were monitored during the entire study. Resting blood pressures and systolic blood pressure response (SBPR) to a stress test were recorded three times during the study. At the end of the study there was no relationship between systolic or diastolic blood pressure or SBPR and total calcium intake in normotensive women (n = 81). In the medicated hypertensive group (n = 34) there was a 13 mm Hg decrease in systolic pressure of supplemented women (n = 18) and a 7 mm Hg increase in unsupplemented women (n = 16) over the 4 yr (p < .02).