OBJECTIVE: Estrogen levels in menopausal women decrease intestinal ability to absorb calcium which caused low calcium levels in the blood and increase bone resorption by osteoclasts. Both causes the increase of bone turnover and as risk factors that increase osteoporosis prevalence in the women population during the menopausal transition. The research aims to compare the effect of high-dose calcium supplementation with control tablet supplementation’s effect on bone turnover in menopausal transition.
METHOD: This study was a randomized clinical trial to determine the effect of consuming high calcium tablets [1200 mg/day] administered in divided doses morning and night compared to consuming low-calcium tablets [60 mg/day] to the change in chemical markers of women bone turnover at the menopausal period for 16 weeks. It was conducted at Clinic, Asri Medical Center Yogyakarta 01 January to 31 December 2013. Comparison of Osteocalcin [OC] and C-telopeptide [CTx] as bone marker levels was performed at weeks 0,2,8, and 16. Post-action was calculated statistically with ANOVA and the mean result comparison to the subject was analyzed with Tukey-Kramer.
RESULT: The result showed that Osteocalcin [OC] and C-telopeptide [CTx] decreased for 16 weeks of supplementation in the research subjects group, decreased to 10% on week 2, 18% on week 8, and 32% on week 16. There were no differences between groups in the age characteristics, body mass index [BMI], Bone Mineral Density [BMD] and calcium intake.
CONCLUSION: Supplementation of high-dose calcium tablets is reducing women’s bone turnover during menopausal transition.
