Vitamin D Supplementation May Cut Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events

(HealthDay News) — For older adults, vitamin D supplementation may reduce the incidence of major cardiovascular events although the difference is small and confidence intervals consistent with a null finding, according to a study published online in The BMJ.

Bridie Thompson, PhD, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Herston, Australia, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial of monthly vitamin D to examine whether supplementation in older adults alters the incidence of major cardiovascular events. Data were included for 21,315 participants aged 60 to 84 years at enrollment. For up to 5 years, 60,000 IU/month vitamin D or placebo was taken orally (10,662 and 10,653, respectively).

The researchers found that 6.6 and 6.0% of participants receiving placebo or vitamin D, respectively, experienced a major cardiovascular event. Compared with the placebo group, the rate of major cardiovascular events was lower in the vitamin D group (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.01), especially among those who were taking cardiovascular drugs at baseline (hazard ratio, 0.84; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.97). The difference in standardized cause-specific cumulative incidence at five years was −5.8 events per 1,000 participants (95 percent confidence interval, −12.2 to 0.5 per 1000 participants), resulting in a number needed to treat of 172 in order to avoid one major cardiovascular event.

“These findings suggest that conclusions that vitamin D supplementation does not alter risk of cardiovascular disease are premature,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text