News
New study shows UK adolescents require a vitamin D intake of between 10 to 30 µg per day to maintain adequate tissue levels and avoid deficiency
12 December 2016
16 December 2011
According to a new US study, vitamin D supplementation may be associated with an increased survival rate, specifically in cardiovascular patients with documented deficiency.
In the observational cohort study, blood vitamin D concentrations, vitamin D supplement use and survival rate were analyzed in 10,899 cardiovascular patients (mean age 58 years) for five years and eight months (1). The study results showed that about 70% of the patients were vitamin D deficient (levels below
30 ng/ml). Vitamin D deficiency was associated with several cardiovascular-related diseases, including hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes. In addition, vitamin D deficiency was a strong independent predictor of all-cause mortality after adjusting for multiple clinical variables. Vitamin D supplementation improved survival overall, but only to a significant degree in deficient patients. The dose and duration of vitamin D supplementation were not analyzed.
The researchers concluded that vitamin D deficiency may be associated with a significant risk of cardiovas-cular disease and reduced survival. Vitamin D supplementation seems to be significantly associated with better survival, and particularly in patients with deficiency.
A growing body of evidence has identified vitamin D deficiency as a potential widespread risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Recent evidence supports an association of vitamin D deficiency with hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, and heart failure (2, 3). Although epidemiologic evidence for an association between vitamin D deficiency and several cardiovascular diseases is strong, studies investigating the effect of vitamin D supplementation on patient survival have had inconsistent results (4, 5).
12 December 2016
26 May 2014
A new review concludes that a diet with a lot of vitamin-rich vegetables and fruits may significantly contribute to decrease the risk suffering a stroke.
18 December 2013
Three new US studies conclude that studies evaluating potential effects of multivitamin supplementation in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer and cognitive decline show insufficient evidence for benefits or harmful impacts. The researchers suggested that future studies are needed to clarify whether multivitamin supplementation may be more beneficial in persons with less optimal nutritional status or vitamin deficiencies.