THE EFFECTS OF CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTATION ON AMBULATORY BLOOD-PRESSURE IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

This longitudinal trial investigated the effects of calcium supplement ation on the mean 24-hour blood pressure in African-American adolescen ts. Subjects were self-identified African-American adolescents from a high school in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. The subjects were randomly placed in a placebo or treatment group (placebo versus 1.5 g of calcium/day x 4 weeks). Follow-up mean 24-hour ambulatory blood pre ssure (ABP) for both the treatment and control groups was lower than t he baseline mean 24-hour ABP. In the treatment group, there was a decr ease of 2.2 mm Hg in the mean systolic blood pressure and 0.7 mmHg in the diastolic blood pressure. Relative to the placebo group, the net c hange in ABP was -1.7 mm hg for systolic blood pressure and -0.5 mm Hg for the diastolic blood pressure. There was no statistically signific ant effect of calcium supplementation on the 24-hour mean ABP. The net effect of supplementation on ABP during waking and sleeping hours als o was not significant.