Newspaper Page Text
8A
♦ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2005
Reader asks questions
about calcium supplements
In last week’s column, I
began addressing some very
good questions that were sent
in from a reader. The questions
covered in that column dealt
with calcium requirements, cal
cium sources and problems that
may be caused by excessive cal
cium intake. This week’s ques
tions tackle the dosing of calci
um supplements.
The reader asked: “Is it OK
to take calcium supplements
with multivitamins?”
It is acceptable to take calci
um supplements with multivit
amins. Most multivitamin and
mineral formulas contain some
small amounts of calcium any
way, so this shouldn’t be a prob
lem.
Calcium supplements (and
multivitamins) can, however,
interact with a number of pre
scription medications. A short
list of medications affected by
calcium supplements would
include: Lanoxin,
Levothyroxine (i.e., Synthroid),
Quinolone (i.e., Cipro,
Levaquin) antibiotics, tetracy
cline antibiotics, and anticon
vulsants such as phenytoin
(Dilantin). Be sure to check
with your pharmacist if you are
taking a calcium supplement
and have questions about tak
ing it with any other medica
tions.
The reader also asked this
related question: “Is it OK to
take calcium supplements once
a day or should they be taken at
other times during the day?”
It probably wouldn’t cause a
significant problem taking cal
cium supplements once a day,
but I would recommend against
it for a couple of reasons. .
First, a full day’s calcium
supplementation can be a lot of
tablets (as many as three or
four, depending on the brand)
to take at once. And they’re not
small tablets. Additionally,
some people experience gastric
discomfort from calcium sup
plements and taking them all at
once increases both the risk and
incidence of these types of prob
lems. Also, taking calcium sup
plements with meals and/or
large quantities of water may
reduce the risk of gastric side
effects.
Secondly, taking all the
tablets at once results in
uneven blood levels of calcium.
There are high levels in the
immediate hours after the dose
followed by low levels later in
the day. It is much better to
have a relatively consistent
blood level throughout the day.
This is best achieved by break
ing the total daily dose up into
two or three doses, evenly
BOC
From page 1A
their bikes home from
school. Residents were con
cerned about what else
could come in with the C-2
zoning and the proximity of
homes to the commercial
site.
The Planning Commission
initially voted unanimously
to deny the request. The
county commissioners sent
the request back after
Andrews noted errors in the
presentation, not including
the C-2 zoning or a parcel
owned by Farr and operated
as a nursery, across the
street from the site.
At the second Planning
Commission hearing the
vote was split to reverse the
initial decision. Andrews
said the chairman only rec
ognized only two dissenting
votes and the vote to reverse
was based on that. Voting to
reverse the decision were
planning commissioners
Rick Pogue, Steve Holcomb
and Randy Moore, with
members Fred Graham and
Nancy Newell opposed.
After the meeting,
Andrews said, Pogue said he
had voted against reversing
the decision, but since he
did not speak up at the time
of the vote the decision was
based on the minutes of the
meeting and listed as three
for and two against with one
member not present and the
chairman not voting.
Farr owns a mini-storage
facility on Ga. 247 and the
proposed Azalea site would
be over for that one with the
entrance off Pecan Street at
the Azalea Drive intersec
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David Voltz
Pharmacy Q&.A
voltzrph@hotmail.com
spaced apart, during the day.
This leads us to another
question the reader asked
about calcium supplement dos
ing: “Should all calcium supple
ments be taken with Vitamin
D?”
Vitamin D is necessary for
the effective absorption and uti
lization of calcium; that’s why
milk is fortified with Vitamin D.
If a calcium supplement is
being taken, it’s probably best
to take one that includes
Vitamin D.
An interesting aside about
Vitamin D is that it is also
called the “sunshine vitamin”
because the body manufactures
the vitamin when exposed to
sunshine. According to the
National Library of Medicine’s
Web site, “ten to 15 minutes of
sunshine three times weekly is
adequate to produce the body’s
requirement of vitamin D.”
However, with the increased
rate of skin cancers these days,
it might be best to check with
your doctor before venturing
out into the sun unprotected.
Your physician may have rec
ommendations for multivita
min and calcium supplements
that you may want to ask about
as well.
Next week, I should complete
the reader’s questions on calci
um supplements and, in subse
quent weeks; move on to the
other topics that were asked
about. I want to again thank
the reader for taking the time
to write and for their interest.
If you have any questions
regarding medications or phar
macy practice in general, or
comments, or suggestions for
topics you d like to read about in
this column, just write to me. I
can receive email via
voltzrph@hotmail.com or
postal mail at Pharmacy Q&A,
do The Houston Home Journal,
PO. Box 1910, Perry, GA 31069.
All questions are confidential,
so you don’t have to give your
name.
tion.
In other business:
The Commission voted
unanimously to abandon a
0.185-acre easement at the
other end of Azalea Drive
where it intersects with Ga.
96. Public Works Director
Tommy Stalnaker said the
county had agreed to return
the land once the intersec
tion was realigned.
He noted the county made
the improvement “in the
early ’9os. This has been
hanging on since then.”
Stalnaker also noted the
road closing this weekend of
Ga. 247 by the Frito Lay
plant for improvements to
the rail spur. He said traffic
would be rerouted to the Ga.
247 Spur to the U.S. 341
Bypass to Ga. 127 and back
to Ga. 247. The road closure
will be put into place at 7
p.m. Friday and remain in
place until noon Sunday.
“This is a huge detour,”
Stalnaker said. “Those of us
who live in the area know
that route will not be used,
People will cut through
Sandbed and Bear Branch
roads.”
It was noted Sandbed
would not be passable if it
rains. Stalnaker said, “Ee’re
supposed to get rain. It will
be a mess out there.”
A signed detour will be in
place, said DOT spokes
woman Dorothy Daniel.
Local residents are advised
to use alternate routes this
weekend whenever possible,
Daniel said, “or plan their
commute with this detour
and possible delays in
mind.”
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