Vitamin D could decrease chances of death from diseases / Related research suggestions

Main Point:

Researchers have reported that vitamin D supplementation for 3 years or more significantly decreases all-cause mortality in female patients with vitamin D insufficiency.

Published in:

[sociallocker]PLoS ONE

Study Further:

Vitamin D:

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that occurs in fish-liver oils and is often added to milk. They are essential for the formation of bones and teeth. Lack of vitamin D causes rickets. Vitamin D deficiency below baseline levels is found to be associated with the increased chances of mortality.

Present Study:

In the present study, researchers reviewed the 42 studies and found that combination of vitamin D and calcium significantly reduced mortality.

Researchers have also reported that vitamin D in a daily dose of 800 IU or less significantly reduces all-cause mortality in females younger than 80 years having vitamin D insufficiency, if taken for 3 years or more. They have also found that vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is more favorable than vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol).

Research Suggestions:

Some points of research as noted in the research are as follows:

“Vitamin D may have a beneficial effect on cancer related mortality. But it needs more RCTs to better understand the effect of vitamin D on cancer.”

“There was a lack of evidence to draw a conclusion of vitamin D’s influence on male patients with only one identified trial collected death data by subgroup of gender.”

“The effect of vitamin D on cardiovascular diseases remains to be identified.”

“The mechanism of vitamin D benefit on overall mortality is not clear.”

“Future studies are needed to test the efficacy of vitamin D on specific mortality, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality in a long-term treatment duration.”

References:

Yayuan Zheng et al. (2013). Meta-Analysis of Long-Term Vitamin D Supplementation on Overall Mortality PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082109
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