Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Calcium Cuts Breastfeeding Women's Lead Levels

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

Calcium Cuts Breastfeeding Women's Lead Levels

Fri March 07, 2003 05:36 PM ET

By Linda Carroll

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Calcium supplements can lower blood lead levels

in nursing mothers, a new study shows.

 

This in turn may lower the amount of lead passed on to babies in breast

milk, according to the authors of the study, which is published in the March

issue of Epidemiology.

 

Among women who took calcium supplements, blood lead levels were reduced by

up to 16%, according to the study's lead author Mauricio Hernandez-Avila, a

researcher from the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica in Cuernavaca,

Mexico.

 

The new study is " good news, in that it provides yet another rationale for

making sure that women who are lactating--or for that matter those who are

pregnant--pay attention to calcium, " Joseph Graziano, associate dean for

research at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in

New York City, said in an interview with Reuters Health.

 

That's because lead behaves similarly to calcium in the body, Graziano

explained. Like calcium, lead is deposited in the bones. And like calcium,

it can be drawn from the bones into the mother's bloodstream.

 

" Whenever the demands for calcium go up, as they do in lactation or

pregnancy, bone is called upon to supply calcium, " Graziano explains. " Bone

is living tissue. Cells in the bone can actually mobilize calcium and send

it into the blood stream where it can be used for other purposes, like

making milk. "

 

The problem is, lead is mobilized along with the calcium, according to

Graziano. And lead from the blood will pass through the placenta to the

developing fetus and into the milk produced by the nursing mother.

 

" All of us who live in the post-industrialization era have some lead in our

bones, " Graziano said. " Like it or not, we've been exposed to lead from

gasoline, paint and other sources. "

 

And lead is toxic, particularly to developing brains.

 

In the new study, researchers followed 617 Mexican women who had recently

given birth. The women's average age was 24.

 

" We chose women in Mexico City because dietary calcium intake is low and the

use of calcium supplements during lactation is not common, " Hernandez-Avila

and colleagues explain. And, they note, the city recently eliminated leaded

gasoline, making bone lead stores a more important source of lead exposure.

 

Half the women were given calcium supplements and half were given placebos.

The researchers checked the women's blood for lead at three and six months

after the study began.

 

Blood lead was reduced among women who took the calcium supplements. Those

with initially high bone lead levels who took their supplements at least

half of the time saw the greatest reduction, with blood lead lowed by just

over 16%.

 

While giving pregnant and lactating women calcium is no substitute for

efforts to reduce environmental lead levels, Hernandez-Avila and his

colleagues note, it may be " an important secondary prevention effort. "

 

" Dietary lead exposure is difficult to eradicate, " they note, " and lead

exposure from long-lived bone stores is likely to persist for decades. "

 

SOURCE: Epidemiology 2003;14:206-212.

 

------

© Copyright Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Any copying, re-publication

or re-distribution of Reuters content or of any content used on this site,

including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior

written consent of Reuters.

 

Quotes and other data are provided for your personal information only, and

are not intended for trading purposes. Reuters, the members of its Group and

its data providers shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the

quotes or other data, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

 

© Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of

Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is

expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters

and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the

Reuters group of companies around the world.

Close This Window

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...