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Hypokalzämie
The blood value stays normal for long because bone helps out — it therefore says little about intake.
Also known as: hypocalcemia · low calcium
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Calcium is important not only for bones and teeth but also for muscles, nerves and blood clotting. The body keeps the blood calcium level very precisely constant — especially with the help of vitamin D and the parathyroid hormone. A low blood calcium level therefore rarely arises from too little dietary calcium alone, but mostly from something that disturbs this regulation: a marked vitamin D deficiency, a parathyroid disorder or a kidney disease. A mild deficiency often causes no symptoms; a marked one can show through tingling around the mouth and in the fingers, muscle cramps and twitching. In the long term, a good calcium and vitamin D supply matters above all for healthy bones. The cause of a true calcium deficiency should be medically clarified, because treatment depends on it.
Since D controls calcium uptake, a good D supply is central.
Dairy, green vegetables, nuts and calcium-rich water.
Movement plus calcium and vitamin D protect bones long-term.
The right treatment depends on what causes the deficiency.
Calcium in tablet form is only taken up at about 500 milligrams at a time — more in one dose achieves nothing and is excreted, which is why it is split into two. Without enough vitamin D, uptake stays low however much is given. In bone, calcium works only together with loading: without movement it is barely built in. At high dose over years without a documented deficiency, a shift into the vessels is under discussion.
The daily requirement is about 1000 milligrams in adults, 1200 from sixty-five. A litre of milk contains around 1200, a hundred grams of hard cheese around 1000. Only about 500 milligrams are absorbed per single dose — more at once achieves nothing. The blood value says nothing about supply, because the body holds it constant using the bones; so a normal blood calcium is no proof of sufficient intake.
The blood level is kept constant via vitamin D and parathyroid hormone.
Usually a regulation problem, not just too little in food.
Tingling around mouth/fingers, cramps and twitching if marked.
A true low value should be medically assessed (vitamin D, parathyroid, kidneys).
What a deficiency makes visible on the body — skin, nails, tongue, eyes and nerves. The signs are unspecific: they show where to look, they prove nothing.
Without vitamin D only a fraction of the calcium from food is taken up. It is the value that is most often too low with bone and joint complaints.
The building material itself. Better from food than from a tin: hard cheese, yoghurt, calcium-rich mineral water, almonds, broccoli and fortified plant drinks.
Activates the proteins that build calcium into bone. Green leafy vegetables and fermented foods cover it — under coumarin blood thinning the amount stays steady rather than swinging.
Bone is a third protein scaffold, and the muscles that hold it need protein too. In older people too little protein is more common than too little calcium.
Needed for building calcium in and for vitamin D to work. A lack slows both — even when calcium and vitamin D are supplied in sufficient amounts.
Above 500 mg at once the absorbed share falls — hence two doses. Citrate is absorbed even without stomach acid, carbonate needs it and belongs with a meal.
Without vitamin D calcium is barely absorbed — a deficiency otherwise persists no matter how much is taken. Both belong measured together.
Effective when deficient; effects on sleep and stress plausible but moderate. Too much causes loose stool.
This hormone keeps the calcium in the blood constant — from bone if need be. A normal calcium value is therefore no proof of sufficient intake: it only says the regulation works, not where the calcium came from.
Vitamin D only acts in this form — the kidney makes it. Without it barely any calcium is taken up from the gut, no matter how much is eaten. That is why both are measured and replaced together.
The counterpart of parathyroid hormone, which pushes calcium back into bone. In adults it plays a smaller role than its well-known name suggests.
A glass of milk or 150 g yoghurt gives 200–250 mg, 30 g hard cheese about 250 mg, 100 g kale about 150 mg. Mineral water with over 300 mg per litre counts fully.
Above 500 mg at once the absorbed share falls. Two to three portions over the day therefore deliver more than one large one.
Without vitamin D calcium is hardly absorbed — a deficiency otherwise persists no matter how much is eaten. Both belong measured together.
It is being studied whether K2 directs calcium into bone rather than into vessels. The studies are inconsistent; caution applies with warfarin-type blood thinners.