Calcium supplements appear to slightly raise the risk of heart attack, a new analysis suggests. But the data, from postmenopausal women who took supplements over seven years, are far from conclusive.

So don’t throw out the multivitamins just yet – or those calcium supplements that many women take for bone health. Not all doctors are convinced that this study, led by the University of Auckland, is the last word on calcium supplements. Or that it changes the debate at all.

The results from previous studies of calcium and heart attack risk, including ones from the same research team, have been widely criticized. In controlled studies, some participants are supposed to take one substance while other participants take a different one, often a placebo. But in this large calcium trial, many women from both groups took extra personal calcium supplements on the side.