Calcium News and Research

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Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.

The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.

Discovery lays foundation for understanding how the cell senses membrane injuries

When the cell's recycling stations, the lysosomes, start leaking, it can become dangerous. Toxic waste risks spreading and damaging the cell.

12 Jan 2026

Heavy coffee drinking may weaken bone density in older women

Researchers investigate the longitudinal associations of coffee and tea consumption with bone mineral density in older women.

12 Jan 2026

Scientists identify a molecular switch that controls water flow in the gut

Although constipation and diarrhea may seem like opposite problems, they both hinge on the same underlying issue: how much fluid moves into the gut. These common issues affect millions of people in the U.S. each year, yet scientists have not fully understood what regulates intestinal fluid balance.

9 Jan 2026

Sugarcane protein mouthwash helps protect oral health during head and neck cancer treatment

An artificial saliva in the form of a mouthwash, produced with the CANECPI-5 protein extracted from sugarcane and modified in a laboratory, can aid in treating teeth in patients with head and neck cancer. In these cases, radiotherapy very close to the mouth can destroy salivary glands and compromise saliva production, which is essential for controlling bacteria and disease.

7 Jan 2026

Higher intake of food preservatives linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Higher consumption of food preservatives, widely used in industrially processed foods and beverages to extend their shelf life, has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

7 Jan 2026

Researchers successfully perform coronary artery bypass without cutting the chest wall

In a world-first, a team of researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, has successfully performed a coronary artery bypass - a normally open-heart surgery - without cutting the chest wall.

6 Jan 2026

Small shifts in blood sodium may influence human brain excitability

This exploratory study in healthy young adults found that plasma sodium levels within the normal clinical range are significantly associated with resting motor threshold, an indirect measure of corticospinal excitability. Lower sodium concentrations were linked to lower thresholds, suggesting subtle physiological variation in electrolytes may relate to interindividual differences in brain excitability.

1 Jan 2026

Calcium signaling helps maintain protein quality in the endoplasmic reticulum

Calcium (Ca2+) drives many cellular functions, though the way it controls quality of proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a cellular organelle that synthesizes and transports proteins, is widely unknown.

26 Dec 2025

ARB drugs lead to better blood pressure treatment adherence

Patients who start their blood pressure treatment with ARB drugs continue with the same medicine to a greater extent than patients who start out with other drugs.

22 Dec 2025

Skin and internal organs sense cold through different molecular pathways

A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has demonstrated that the body uses different molecular mechanisms to detect cold in the skin and in internal organs.

19 Dec 2025

Mitochondria shift toward the cell edge in response to glucose

Unlike our organs, cell organelles such as mitochondria are not fixed in place, but when, where, how, and why organelles move remain unclear.

19 Dec 2025

New research highlights varied cold perception across body tissues

Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has demonstrated that the body uses different molecular mechanisms to detect cold in the skin and in internal organs.

18 Dec 2025

AI analysis of chest X-rays may reveal early signs of aging

Artificial intelligence may be able to reveal how fast your body is aging by analyzing a chest X-ray, according to a new study published in The Journals of Gerontology. Researchers found that a deep learning model was able to detect subtle, age-related changes in the heart, lungs, and overall health more effectively than leading DNA-based "epigenetic clocks."

17 Dec 2025

Hydrogel-based treatment achieves innervation and pulp-dentin regeneration

The dental pulp is susceptible to microbial infection, which often results in inflammation, necrosis, and defects in the pulp-dentin complex. Traditional treatment strategies suffer from multiple limitations and do not promote neural regeneration.

16 Dec 2025

Single-pill combination medications may simplify treatment for adults with high blood pressure

Taking one pill that combines two or more blood pressure medications may help adults with high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) lower their blood pressure level faster and more effectively than taking multiple medications separately, and it may also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a new scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

15 Dec 2025