Special Issue "Calcium Needs of Older Adults"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. John J.B. Anderson
Department of Nutrition, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of North Carolina, 2218 Mcgavran-Greenberg Hl, 135 Dauer Drive, Campus Box 7461, Chapel Hill 27599-7461, USA
Website: http://www.sph.unc.edu/?option=com_profiles&Itemid=6841&profileAction=ProfDetail&pid=704272666
E-Mail: jjb_anderson@unc.edu
Phone: +1 919 966 7211
Fax: +1 919 966 7216
Interests: nutrition and bone; nutrition and the metabolic syndrome; nutrition and renal function

Guest Editor
Dr. Martha E. Payne
Neuropsychiatric Imaging Research Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Box 104000, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Website: http://psychiatry.duke.edu/faculty/details/0037664/
E-Mail: martha.payne@duke.edu
Phone: +1 919 416-7543
Fax: +1 919 416-7547

Dear Colleagues,

Twenty % or more of US citizens have calcium intakes that exceed the Recommended Dietary Allowances (IOM, 2011).   Spinal and hip NHANES data on bone mineral density (BMD) of older male and female adults of different ethnicities in the USA do not show differences in BMD of the spine and hip across quintiles of calcium intakes in this 2005-2006 analysis.  Assuming calcium retention occurs at higher levels of intake, the question becomes:  Where does the extra calcium go in the bodies of subjects in the highest quintiles?  Certainly, some small amounts of calcium enter bone as part of the normal turnover of the mineral phase.  Some is excreted in urine, more typically in those with higher quintiles of calcium intake than those in the lower quintiles.  Recently, several researchers have suggested that a substantial portion of the retained calcium following dietary intake is deposited as new ectopic bone in arterial walls throughout the body, but especially in specific organs, most notably coronary arteries, heart valves, and the aorta.  Measurement of coronary artery calcification measured by electron beam or spiral-computerized tomography provides a research tool to investigate the relationship between differing levels of calcium intake and total atherosclerotic burden.  The adverse effects of ectopic vascular calcification include events related to ischemia (atherosclerosis) and arterial stiffening (arteriosclerosis).  Both of these processes are associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality in normal subjects and in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney diseases.  To date, two reports have been published that suggest increased cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality among high-calcium consumers, especially older women.  Older adults may also develop brain lesions from excessive calcium intake.  Ongoing efforts are aimed at understanding the initiating events in ectopic vascular calcification and relationships with established atherosclerosis in major arteries of the body.  Another major question is whether optimal intake range of calcium, at or even slightly below the RDA, may lower the risk of arterial calcification and organ dysfunction.

Prof. Dr. John J.B. Anderson
Dr. Martha E. Payne
Guest Editors

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charges (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 500 CHF (Swiss Francs) for well prepared manuscripts submitted before 30 June 2012. The APC for manuscripts submitted from 1 July 2012 onwards are 1000 CHF per accepted paper. In addition, a fee of 250 CHF may apply if English editing or extensive revisions must be undertaken by the Editorial Office.

• dietary and supplemental calcium
• bone
• arterial calcification
• heart disease
• optimal calcium intake
• atherosclerosis
• arteriosclerosis
• mechanisms of bone formation