Define Assessment of Calcium Status and Calcium Requirements?
There is no biochemical indicator, which can clearly reflect calcium status. It has also been seen that in case of dietary calcium deficiency; plasma levels are maintained at the cost of bone calcium. Thus, prolonged calcium deficiency will affect the skeletal calcium rese ves. Therefore measures of bone mass may be used as indicators of calcium status. These include: Bone Mineral Content (BMC) and Bone Mineral Density (BMD). BMC is the amount of mineral at a particular skeletal site such as femoral neck, lumbar spine or total body. BMD is BMC divided by the area of the scanned region. Besides their relationship to bone mass and strength, BMD and BMC are strong predictors of fracture risk and thus functional indicators of Ca status, So how much amount of calcium should we consume to ensure that adequate levels are maintained in the bones, blood and other essential tissues?