What is calcification?

Calcification is a normal process of calcium accumulation for bone and cartilage formation. However, when calcification takes place in soft tissues and organs, it can cause many medical problems. A specific example is calcification that occurs in coronary artery will harden artery walls then result in cardio vascular diseases.

Arterial calcification in the heart is also known as cause of coronary arteriosclerosis. In this condition, the arteries become hard and narrow. This will inhibit the flow of blood to the heart and restrict the number of work it can perform, even to the point at which a person may have trouble walking a few steps without chest pain or shortness of breath. A narrowing blood vessels can cause the amount of blood supply to the area of the heart will be cut off and a heart attack will result. Moreover, calcification in brain‘s arteries also cause stroke.

Causes of calcification

It is myth that many people think that they have vascular calcification because they consume too much calcium. In fact, there is no relationship between calcification in vascular and the amount of calcium intake. To understand real cause of this process, let‘s discuss about the mechanism of calcification in our body.

Nowadays, scientists proved that matrix Gla- protein (MGP) plays a majority role in vascular calcification although it had been known as an incontrollable procedure for many years. The MGP had been thought as an importance in bone and cartilage formation for many years before the discovery of new function of it by Lou G and colleagues in 1997. In this study, scientist had deleted MGP gene in mice. All mice were died in only 6-8 weeks after birth because of arterial calcification. Therefore, they concluded that MGP plays main function in the inhibition of medical calcification of the arteries.

In inactive form, this protein contains Glutamic acid groups (Glu), Glu will be carboxylated into gamma-carboxyglutamic acid groups (Gla) when it is activated. This conversion is performed by an enzyme (carboxylase) which needs vitamin K as a co-factor. The Gla groups enable MGP to specifically bind calcium ions. So, an optimal vitamin K is important to maintain the risk of arterial calcification as low as possible, not calcium intake.

Besides that, vitamin D and magnesium can also inhibit calcification. Numerous studies have shown the correlation between adequate levels of vitamin D in the body and the absence of extensive arterial calcification. In addition, magnesium has been found to be another natural calcium blocker and is another natural antidote to arterial calcification.

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