Gestational calcium intake may lower blood pressure in offspring
Infants registered lower blood pressure readings if their mothers took supplemental calcium during pregnancy. That’s what a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension concluded. And the benefit seemed to increase as time passed.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, supplemented first-time mothers with two grams per day of calcium or a placebo, beginning between weeks 13 to 21 of gestation and continuing until delivery.
Blood pressure was measured in children at three months after birth and again at two years. Systolic blood pressure in the calcium-supplemented infants was 2.2 mm Hg lower than in the placebo group at three months. At two years of age, systolic blood pressure was 4.8 mm Hg lower in the calcium-supplemented group and diastolic blood pressure was 3 mm Hg lower, indicating that the effects of the calcium supplementation increased as the children aged.
Researchers concluded that “the data on blood pressure in children are in agreement with previous studies and argue strongly for additional research into the effects of prenatal calcium supplementation on blood pressure regulation in offspring.”
American Journal of Hypertension 16(10):801-805, 2003
Infants registered lower blood pressure readings if their mothers took supplemental calcium during pregnancy. That’s what a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension concluded. And the benefit seemed to increase as time passed.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, supplemented first-time mothers with two grams per day of calcium or a placebo, beginning between weeks 13 to 21 of gestation and continuing until delivery.
Blood pressure was measured in children at three months after birth and again at two years. Systolic blood pressure in the calcium-supplemented infants was 2.2 mm Hg lower than in the placebo group at three months. At two years of age, systolic blood pressure was 4.8 mm Hg lower in the calcium-supplemented group and diastolic blood pressure was 3 mm Hg lower, indicating that the effects of the calcium supplementation increased as the children aged.
Researchers concluded that “the data on blood pressure in children are in agreement with previous studies and argue strongly for additional research into the effects of prenatal calcium supplementation on blood pressure regulation in offspring.”
American Journal of Hypertension 16(10):801-805, 2003
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