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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Too much calcium in a mans bloodstream could increase his risk of developing fatal prostate cancer, according to a new study. However, excess calcium can be lowered fairly easily.
Researchers analyzed the results of about 2,800 men who participated in a federal health and nutrition survey. They measured the amount of calcium in the bloodstreams and compared it with prostate cancer deaths. Men with levels at the higher end of normal were about three times more likely to die from prostate cancer than men with levels nearer the lower end of normal.
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However, investigators emphasize that men should not limit calcium in their diets. As it turns out, blood levels of calcium have little to do with what people eat. Instead, they are mainly regulated by the parathyroid hormone, which keeps blood calcium under tight control. Too little calcium in the blood can lead to convulsions, while too much can put people into a coma.
Since blood levels of calcium are so important, they are routinely measured during health exams, and doctors can easily determine if a man needs treatment to get his levels under control. Drugs aimed at reducing high levels of parathyroid hormone in patients with chronic kidney disease and other conditions are already available.
What is particularly exciting -- if this study is replicated, and attempts to do so are already in progress -- is that it suggests that a man may reduce his risk of fatal prostate cancer by lowering serum levels of calcium and/or parathyroid hormone, study author Gary G. Schwartz, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, published online September 3, 2008
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Lindsay Braun at lbraun@ivanhoe.com.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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