According to a new study, taking calcium supplements can increase the risk of a heart attack and indicate that the safety of such tablets is increasingly being scrutinized.

They say that the tablets could be doing more harm and good. Several thousand of women take calcium boosters as they are advised for strengthening bones against osteoporosis. However, the study shows that supplements cannot be used as a low cost panacea against thinning bones.

The researchers have suggested that instead of taking tablets, people should consume more calcium-rich foods like milk, cheese and green, leafy vegetables. It was found in the research that those consuming calcium boosters had double the risk of a cardiac arrest than those who did not take any calcium boosters.

They looked into records for 24,000 people in Germany aged 35 to 64 taking part in a nutrition research project in the 1990s and found that the calcium boosters increase the risk of a hear t attack among people.

Co-authors led by Professor Sabine Rohrmann, from Zurich University's institute of social and preventative medicine said, that the calcium supplements included “a statistically significantly increased myocardial infarction risk in comparison with non-users of any supplements”.

"Increasing calcium intake from diet might not confer significant cardiovascular benefits, while calcium supplements, which might raise MI risk, should be taken with caution," they concluded.