09 March 2013
A new study from Israel suggests that regular intakes of supplements with vitamin D may improve cardiovascular health for diabetic patients, with implications for recommended doses.
In the randomized controlled trial, 47 type-2 diabetic patients received either a daily dose of vitamin D (1,000 IU/ day) or placebo for one year (1). The study results showed that the central aortic augmentation index, a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events, significantly decreased in the vitamin D group compared with the placebo group. In addition, levels of adiponectin – a collagen-like protein specifically expressed in human adipose cells, which plays an important role in insulin sensitivity, inflammation and atherosclerosis – increased in participants of the vitamin D group. No changes were seen in other measures, such as maintai-ning a healthy blood sugar level (glucose homeostasis).
The researchers commented that these findings may have clinical implications for the usual recommended daily allowance for vitamin D for diabetic patients. Since the levels of vitamin D are extremely low in this population, more appropriate daily supplementation doses above 1,000 IU/day might be recommended to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D. Since the study included a small number of patients, the scientists called for larger studies to establish the benefits of vitamin D supplementation on vascular health as well as its clinical impact on cardiovascular outcomes in type-2 diabetics.
An earlier study associated optimal blood vitamin D levels (at least 75 nmol/L) of people with metabolic syndrome with a 66% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease related mortality compared with people with severe vitamin D deficiency (2).
28 September 2017
They may be invisible to us without a microscope, but the billions of microorganisms that make up our own personal microbiome are very important for our health. Learn how the food and nutrients you consume (or don’t consume) impact your microbiome.
3 June 2011
Taking vitamins before and/or during the first month of pregnancy may reduce the chances of bearing a child with autism by 50 percent, says a new US study.
1 January 2012
In the UK, more than 40% of people aged 65 or older have a limiting longstanding illness. Common conditions include osteoporosis, affecting 50% of women and 20% of men over the age of 50; coronary heart disease, affecting 21% of people over the age of 65; and stroke, age-related macular degeneration, and depression.
