A 55-year-old female patient asks a nurse about calcium supplements. The nurse learns that the patient consumes two servings of dairy products each day. The patient's serum calcium level is 9.5 mg/dL. The serum vitamin D level is 18 ng/mL. The nurse will recommend adding ____ daily and ____ IU of vitamin D? each day.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Women older than 50 years need 1200 mg of calcium per day. This patient is getting 600 mg/day. She should add 600 mg/day to compensate for what she does not get in her diet, because the amount of a supplement should be enough to make up the difference. Her vitamin D level is low, so she needs a vitamin D supplement. To treat deficiency, adults older than 19 years should get 10,000 IU/day. An additional intake of 1200 mg of calcium once daily is too much calcium. An additional intake of 1500 mg of calcium twice daily is too much calcium, and 1000 IU of vitamin D is not enough to treat deficiency. An additional intake of 600 mg of calcium twice daily is too much calcium, and 2000 IU of vitamin D is not sufficient to treat deficiency.

A 55-Year-Old Female Patient Asks a Nurse About Calcium Supplements