CALCIUM FOR OSTEOPOROSIS

Several different kinds of calcium compounds are used in calcium supplements. Widely known calcium supplements  labeled as follow:

• Calcium carbonate
• Calcium citrate
• Calcium gluconate
• Calcium lactate

Before taking these various calcium preparations, you must check for important information if you have any health or dietary concerns.

Calcium also plays an important role in both neurotransmitter release and muscle contractions. So, calcium deficiencies can bring on seizures in otherwise healthy people.

Early stage calcium deficiency may not cause any symptoms. However, symptoms will develop as the condition progresses.

Severe symptoms of hypocalcemia might include the following:

• Confusion or memory loss
• Muscle spasms
• Numbness and tingling in the hands, feet, and face
• Depression
• Hallucinations
• Bone brittleness

DIAGNOSIS

If your doctor suspects that you might have osteoporosis, he/ she may start by measuring your height to see if you’ve gotten shorter. The bones of the spine are mostly the first ones affected by the condition, which can change your height.

Your doctor may also recommend a test to measure your bone density. This test is called a DEXA scan, and is the most common tool used to measure bone density and diagnose bone loss and osteoporosis at an early stage.

In addition to these bone density tests, your doctor might take samples  of your blood or urine to test them and see if you have another disease that is causing bone loss.

TREATMENT

It’s best to get your calcium from foods. If you want to take supplements, talk to your doctor first. He or she can check whether it would be easy for your body to use other medicines. Your doctor can also tell you if you need to take calcium supplements at a different time than your other medications.