By Gu Jin

Modern medical sciences demonstrate that calcium is one of the important nutritional elements necessary for human life. At the same time, overdose-using calcium may induce hypercalcimia (increase in calcium level in the blood) or hypotension that harms users' health.

From the medical point of view, following specific population should be supplied with calcium:

1, Patients with diabetes. Because of the osmotic diuresis, diabetes-induced osteopathy (pathological conditions of bone) frequently happens in these patients. Clinically, thinner cortex of bone, osteoporosis, deformity of pelvis or pathological bone fracture, even sudden death caused by the fracture could be seen. Therefore, patients with diabetes should be supplied with calcium.

2, Patients with hypertension. When the calcium intake is insufficient, they become nervous, irritable, and often complain headache, insomnia, and thus their blood pressure may increase. Study shows that supplement of calcium for patients in combination with control of salt intake may decrease their blood pressure, stabilize their clinical condition, and thus promote their health.

3, Patients with osteoporosis. Medical studies confirm that the principal cause of osteoporosis is the decalcification (removal of lime salts from bone or teeth) that makes bone rarefactive, so that pain in lower back and legs, bent waist and humpback, and bone fracture often occur in the patients. Women in menopausal states secret less male hormone, which affects the accumulation of calcium in the body and the synthesis of bone collagen, and thus increases the bone fragility. Adequate supplement of calcium for these patients is one of the effective measures.

4, Patients treated with Chinese herbal medicine. Supplement of calcium may help them to improve the effectiveness of the medication.

5, Patients with epilepsy. Due to long-term use of anti-epilepsy drugs, their bone density and bone biochemistry change more or less. Rickets, osteomalacia (softening of the bone), and osteoporosis often occur in these patients. At the same time, insufficient calcium intake may reduce the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation in patients with epilepsy.

6, Patients with hypoparathyroidism (insufficient secretion of parathyroid glands). In these patients, the utilization of calcium from bone and absorbency of calcium in intestine decrease and thus lower the blood level of calcium, and numbness, rigidity, pain, and cramp of extremities appear. Supplement of calcium may improve the symptoms.

7, Heavy alcohol, tea and coffee drinkers. Great amount of calcium excretes in these drinkers due to diuresis. They should intake calcium to compensate the loss.

In addition, pregnant women, foster-nurse, children with rickets, under weight children, premature infant, children with malnutrition, children with chronic diarrhea should administer calcium in accordance with the prescription of physician.