28 July 2011
A new study from the US has reckoned that doubling serum levels of 25hydroxyvitamin D showed to be the “most cost-effective way to reduce global mortality”.
The paper assessed the presumable impact on mortality rates of increasing serum vitamin D levels from 54 to 110 nmol/L in six geopolitical regions around the world: Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific (1). The author identified and considered major vitamin D sensitive diseases with incidence and mortality rates that are reduced by higher serum 25(OH)D levels: e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, bacterial and viral infections, musculoskeletal diseases and neurological diseases. To make his calculation, he referred to a wide range of forms of evidence, including epidemiological studies as – what he considered to be – a reliable base. He adopted the mean serum level of 54 nmol/L for each global region for use in his study on the basis of a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies on global serum 25(OH)D status. The mortality rates for the various regions were obtained from World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2004. He calculated a reduction in the mortality rate for each region on the basis of death rates and vitamin D dose-response relations. The author postulates all-cause mortality rates dropping to a range of between 7.6% for African females to 17.3% for European females.
The study identified strong evidence that vitamin D intake can reduce mortality in the case of many diseases: e.g., CVD, respiratory infections and diseases, some cancers, multiple scleroses, falls and fractures and diabetes. For diabetes type II, the growing evidence for risk reduction with vitamin D was confirmed recently by a new review (2). This included eight observational studies and eleven randomized controlled trials. The metaanalysis of the observational studies showed that risk of diabetes type II decreased by 13% with vitamin D intake of >500 international units (IU) per day compared with a daily intake of <200 IU.
The author of the aforementioned study stated the several ways to raise serum 25(OH)D levels among the population: to increase food fortification (although, he points out that it is difficult to provide a high enough dosage), to make vitamin D supplements more readily available (although, probably not everybody at risk would take them) and to promote production of vitamin D from UVB-radiation (weighing the adverse effects against the positive health effects). He argued for more agreement between health policy makers; saying, “vitamin D has many health benefits and that society would benefit from higher levels” if there was a move “to implement policies to increase serum 25(OH)D levels at the national or regional level”.
9 July 2012
The omega3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, commonly referred to as EPA and DHA, may help to generate an optimal balance of the oxidative status by gene regulation, suggests a new German study.
1 June 2010
“As part of a randomized, placebo-controlled study, B-vitamins (25 mg vitamin B6, 2.5 mg vitamin B9 plus 1 mg vitamin B12 daily) were administered to 238 diabetics to explore whether these vitamins slow the progression of damage to the kidneys caused by diabetes (diabetic nephropathy) and prevent cardiovascular diseases (1).
31 December 2008
“It is surprising how difficult it has been to develop widely acceptable data relating diet and chronic disease. In spite of epidemiological and animal studies supporting many of these relationships, focused human clinical studies have often been negative or at best equivocal. There is no good explanation for this.”
