RELATIONSHIP OF DIETARY CALCIUM INTAKE TO RADIOGRAPHIC BONE DENSITY IN NORMAL AND OSTEOPOROTIC PERSONS

Lifetime daily calcium intake was estimated through interview of 398 individuals from 15 to 90 years of age. The correlation of calcium intake with vertebral mineralization as determined by quantitative radiographic densitometry was low but persistently significant. In 53 persons with osteoporosis matched by age with 53 individuals from the control group, vertebral mineralization values were 60% lower than those of the control group, and the mean estimated total calcium intake in osteoporotics was 21% lower. In those persons reporting a single lifetime calcium intake, the control patients ingested almost twice as much calcium as those with osteoporosis. A mean decrease in calcium intake with advancing years has been shown. Evidence points to a decrease in calcium absorption with age, osteoporosis, or both, as well as a greater need for calcium intake in the elderly to maintain a positive calcium balance. Regardless of the intricacies of calcium homeostasis, a negative calcium balance leads eventually to greater bone resorption than formation, hence the rationality of insuring an adequate calcium intake with recognized nutritional needs. Evidence suggests that many factors are involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of osteoporosis; the data in this report support the likelihood that availability of calcium in the diet is one of them. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.