According to recent studies, adults over 60 may experience fewer significant cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction and coronary revascularization, if they take vitamin D supplements. In those who were using statins or other cardiovascular medications at the beginning, this protective impact might be more pronounced. Further research into the benefits of vitamin D supplementation, particularly for those taking medications for the prevention or treatment of cardiovascular disease, may be prompted by the findings.
The two biggest causes of death worldwide are heart disease and stroke. These occurrences are more common in men than women and their risk rises with age.
In affluent countries, the incidence of cardiovascular disease incidents will undoubtedly continue to rise as populations
As populations in affluent nations age and non-communicable diseases predominate in low- to middle-income nations, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is likely to rise.
Although randomised controlled trials have not found any evidence that vitamin D supplements reduce cardiovascular events, observational studies have consistently demonstrated a relationship between low vitamin D levels and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. This may be because different trial designs can have an impact on the outcomes.
The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute’s Professor Rachel Neale and colleagues set out to determine whether giving older persons monthly vitamin D supplements would affect the frequency of serious cardiovascular events in order to address this uncertainty.
Their D-Health Trial recruited 21,315 Australians between the ages of 60 and 84 who were randomly assigned to receive one capsule of either 60,000 IU vitamin D (10,662 participants) or a placebo (10,653 participants) administered orally at the start of each month for up to 5 years. The study took place from 2014 to 2020.
Participants with a history of osteomalacia, kidney stones, hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis, an inflammatory condition, or those who were already taking more than 500 IU/day of vitamin D were excluded from the study.
Then, serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes, and coronary revascularization (therapy to return regular blood flow to the heart) were identified using data on hospital admissions and mortality.
More than 80% of participants reported taking at least 80% of the study tablets over the course of the course’s average 5-year course of treatment.
1,336 trial participants (6.6% in the placebo group and 6% in the vitamin D group) had a serious cardiovascular event.
When compared to the placebo group, the rate of major cardiovascular events was 9% lower in the vitamin D group (5.8 fewer incidents per 1,000 participants).
There was no change in the rates of stroke between the two groups, but the risk of heart attack was 19% lower and the rate of coronary revascularization was 11% lower in the vitamin D group.
Those who were taking statins or other cardiovascular medications at the beginning of the experiment appeared to experience a bigger effect, but the researchers claim these findings were not statistically significant.
In total, the researchers estimate that 172 individuals would need to take vitamin D supplements on a monthly basis to avoid one serious cardiovascular incident.
They note the findings might not apply to other communities, especially those where a higher percentage of people are vitamin D deficient, and they recognise that there may have been a slight underestimation of the incidents. However, it should be noted that this was a sizable trial with extraordinarily good retention and adherence rates, as well as nearly complete data on cardiovascular events and death outcomes.
The researchers concluded that vitamin D administration may lower the incidence of serious cardiovascular events.
“Those who were taking statins or other cardiovascular medications at the outset may have noticed this beneficial impact more clearly. To aid with the clarification of this matter, more research is required.
These results indicate that it would be premature to draw the conclusion that vitamin D supplementation has no impact on cardiovascular disease risk.