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Dietary calcium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: possible confounding by magnesium

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 408–410 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

This study examined the association of dietary calcium intake with incident type 2 diabetes by a meta-analysis and explored the potential confounding by magnesium. Potential studies were identified by searching the PubMed database in September 2011. Prospective cohort studies that reported relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of type 2 diabetes for dietary calcium intake were selected. Results were combined using either a fixed- or random-effects model. Six prospective cohort studies comprising 264 268 participants and 11 225 reported cases were included. All combined random-effects meta-analysis yielded a significant pooled RR of 0.85 (95% CI 0.75–0.97). However, a sensitivity analysis limited to four studies with control for magnesium yielded an attenuated, nonsignificant pooled RR of 0.94 (95% CI 0.85–1.05). In conclusion, dietary calcium intake was not independently associated with risk of type 2 diabetes. The inverse association in prior observational studies may be partially confounded by magnesium intake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    J-Y Dong & L-Q Qin

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  1. J-Y Dong
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  2. L-Q Qin
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Correspondence to L-Q Qin.

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Dong, JY., Qin, LQ. Dietary calcium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: possible confounding by magnesium. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 408–410 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.5

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