calcium requirements from Mayo clinic

Dear Valued Customer, We wanted to let you know about new data presented this week (June 10, 2009) at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Washington DC.  Doctors from the Mayo clinic looked at 97 patients from the past 20 years who have had bariatric surgery.  They found that 21 of these patients had suffered a total of 31 fractures.  Most fractures occurred an average of 7 years after surgery, with the primary locations being in the hands and feet.  Other sites of fractures were the hip, spine and upper arm.   There are many risks for fracture in adults including age, gender, ethnicity, smoking and alcohol use, diseases like type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, and use of medications such as steroids, antidepressants, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).  But nutrition is also a serious risk.  Inadequate calcium intake and poor vitamin D status are significant factors in the ability to maintain bone health after bariatric surgery.   The ASMBS recommended intakes for calcium after bariatric surgery are as follows: Adjustable Gastric Band (AGB): 1500mg calcium Gastric Bypass (RNY): 1500 to 1800mg calcium as calcium citrate Duodenal Switch (DS): 1800 to 2400mg calcium as calcium citrate   These recommendations are for calcium intake over and above dietary intake.  While it may sound like a lot it is terribly important that your body gets the amount of calcium it needs.  You need calcium to keep your heart beating and your brain functioning (as well as for other things).  So when the body does not get enough coming in each day, it takes calcium from your bones to supply it to the heart and brain.  People will often not know this until they actually break a bone.    Generally, the ASMBS recommends that AGB and RNY patients get 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D3 daily and that DS patients get 2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily.  There is a lot of data indicating that vitamin D deficiency is very common both before and after surgery, and that many patients require higher doses of D3 based on their lab findings.  If you have not had your vitamin D levels tested, it is a good idea to know what they are.  Your doctor or dietitian can help you determine the amount of vitamin D you need to take based on this test.   To read more about the Mayo Clinic findings, you can click on the links below: Mayo Clinic press release: http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2009-rst/5312.html Article in Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610124420.ht m Sent to you on behalf of Bariatric Advantage.

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Good morning Jan, and thanks for the good info!  Easily read and understandable

thank you for sharing this info--so many wls patients feel like they have nothing at all to worry about once their insides are rerouted- like a new beginning ..and it is but not in that sense--
i particularly liked that they said the calcium should be "over and above dietary intake" ! they also specify "citrate" ---

so whether we buy it from bariatric advantage or vitalady or whomever -walmart rite aid walgreens etc etc --buy it and take it faithfully!!!!!

while w e are on calcium--how many of you have had a dexa scan??if you are pre op--NOW would be the perfect time in order to have a baseline done to compare with later!!!!!!!!!!!  ask your dr to refer you and get it done!

umm...disclaimer- i am NOT a dr nor do i attempt to play one on tv! would anyone like to borrow my soap box?????

Because of family history of osteporosis, my doctors started doing the dexa scan almost 15 years ago.

 Despite being faithful with calcium citrate, I lost 20% bone mass in my hips in one year after RNY.  The weekly Rx's he prescribed, have caused nasty side effects so we keep trying to find one that is better for me.

I seem to get so many bad reactions to meds but keep trying. Don't want my bones to fall apart like Mom's did. Eventually he will find the one that agrees with me.

Have you tried the UpCalD?

Thanks Darlene - yes I have along with extra D's.

I inherited my Mom's big butt and bad bones, Dad's tendencies for hernias.

what did you not like about the UpCalD? I am just curious cause I find that to be the cadilac of calcium

Real simple explaination - my hubby picked up a small bottle of Citracal with D and I decided to use them up, then get more of the UpCalD. 

i have a dexa scan every year thanks to medicare .....and it it great....my joints are all bad but that is arthritis ,,,the bone strength is excellent.

I got that the other day, it is good info. Thanks for sharing it...I had a discussion last night with a friend and we hit on calcium. She was told not to take it by her doc as she had a history of kidney stones. I hope I explained well enough that caclium carbonate is the bad guy there....caclium citrate is the good guy and what we are supose to take...see that list says "calcium as calcium citrate" that makes a different on the label on how it reads.

Take 2 to 21/2 hours between your iron.

Reading calcium labels is a whole nother issue and very deceiving....

thanks Jan