Vitamin D supplements may reduce risk of serious cardiovascular events in older people

A clinical trial published by the American Academy of Sciences found that vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks in people over the age of 60. BMJMore.

The researchers stress that the absolute risk difference is small, but it is the largest trial of its kind to date, especially for those taking statins and other cardiovascular drugs. Humans need further evaluation, he said.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a collective term for conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. CVD events such as heart attack and stroke are expected to increase as the population ages and chronic diseases become more common.

Observational studies have consistently shown an association between vitamin D levels and CVD risk, but randomized controlled trials have found no evidence that vitamin D supplementation prevents cardiovascular events. This is probably due to differences in study design that may have affected the results.

To address this uncertainty, Australian researchers set out to investigate whether monthly vitamin D supplementation in older adults would alter the incidence of major cardiovascular events.

Their D-Health trial ran from 2014 to 2020 and involved 21,315 Australians aged 60 to 84 who were given 60,000 IU of vitamin D (10,662 participants) or placebo (participants) at the beginning of each month. 10,653 people) were randomly given one capsule each. Up to 5 years.

Participants with a history of hypercalcemia (hypercalcemia), hyperthyroidism (hyperparathyroidism), kidney stones, cartilage (osteomalacia), sarcoidosis, inflammatory disease or already 1 day Participants taking more than 500 IU of vitamin D per study were excluded.

We then used data on hospitalizations and deaths to identify major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and coronary revascularization (a procedure that restores normal blood flow to the heart).

The average duration of treatment was 5 years, and more than 80% of participants reported taking at least 80% of the study tablets.

During the trial, 1,336 participants experienced a serious cardiovascular event (6.6% in the placebo group and 6% in the vitamin D group).

The incidence of major cardiovascular events was 9% lower in the vitamin D group compared with the placebo group (corresponding to 5.8 fewer events per 1,000 participants).

The vitamin D group had a 19% lower rate of heart attack and an 11% lower rate of coronary revascularization, but there was no difference in the incidence of stroke between the two groups.

Patients taking statins and other cardiovascular drugs at the start of the trial showed stronger effects, but the researchers said these results were not statistically significant.

Overall, the researchers calculated that 172 people would need to take vitamin D supplements each month to prevent one serious cardiovascular event.

The researchers acknowledged that the event may have been slightly underestimated, and said the findings may not apply to other populations, particularly those with high rates of vitamin D deficiency. ing. However, this was a large trial with very high retention and adherence rates and provided nearly complete data on cardiovascular events and mortality.

As such, the findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events, the researchers say. “This protective effect may be more pronounced in patients taking statins and other cardiovascular drugs at baseline,” the researchers added, adding that further evaluation is needed to clarify this question. suggests that

“On the one hand, these findings suggest that conclusions that vitamin D supplementation does not alter cardiovascular disease risk are premature,” the researchers conclude.