Study Finds Another Condition That Vitamin D Pills Do Not Help : Do you need vitamin supplements ?

Study Finds Another Condition That Vitamin D Pills Do Not Help

 Vitamin supplements do not typically shield most individuals against bone fractures or many other ailments, raising more concerns about the reliability of medical advice that many already take for granted. 

The theory was universally accepted since it made so much sense: vitamin D supplements might prevent fractures of the bones. For the bones to grow and remain healthy, the body requires the vitamin for the intestines to absorb calcium.

But today, researchers found that vitamin D supplements given with or without calcium have no effect on bone fracture rates in the first randomized controlled study conducted in the United States, which the federal government funded. The findings, released on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, apply to those with osteoporosis and those with vitamin D deficiency determined by blood tests.

These findings were in line with other findings from the same study that debunked a broad range of claimed advantages of vitamin D supplementation.

An editorial that was included with the issue offers the following advice to the millions of Americans who take vitamin D supplements and the laboratories that do more than 10 million vitamin D tests annually: Stop.

"In order to avoid major diseases or extend life, providers should stop testing for 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels or recommending vitamin D supplements, and patients should stop taking vitamin D supplements," wrote Drs. Steven R. Cummings and Clifford Rosen of the Maine Health Institute for Research and the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. The New England Journal of Medicine editor is Dr. Rosen.

There are exceptions; they note: Those who suffer from illnesses like celiac disease or Crohn's disease, as well as people who live in areas with limited sunlight exposure and who may not consume enough foods that are frequently fortified with vitamin D, such as cereals and dairy products to aid in calcium absorption, need to take vitamin D supplements.

According to Dr. Cummings, it is "tough to do in the general population" to become that severely deficient in vitamin D.

The two scientists are aware that by making such strong claims, they are challenging vitamin dealers, testing facilities, and supporters who have asserted that consuming large levels of vitamin D can treat or prevent a wide range of illnesses and even extend life.

Doctors frequently check vitamin D levels as part of standard blood tests.

Twenty-five thousand eight hundred seventy-one participants, including men and women aged 50 and older, were assigned to take either a placebo or 2,000 international units of vitamin D daily for the duration of the trial.

The study was a component of the vast VITAL vitamin D investigation. It started after an expert panel assembled by the National Academy of Medicine, a nonprofit organization, looked into the health consequences of vitamin D supplements and found scant evidence. The National Institutes of Health supported it.

The members of the expert group were tasked with determining a minimum daily requirement for the vitamin. Still, they discovered that the majority of clinical trials that had looked into the matter were insufficient, leading them to wonder whether the claims that vitamin D improved health were accurate.

At the time, it was widely believed that vitamin D probably prevented bone fractures. Researchers hypothesized that parathyroid hormone levels would rise and harm bones as vitamin D levels decreased.

The objective for vitamin D levels was set at 20 nanograms per milliliter of blood, which Dr. Rosen called an "arbitrary amount," and people were advised to take 600 to 800 international units of vitamin D supplements to reach that target.

The cutoff for normal vitamin D levels was then arbitrarily set by American laboratories at 30 nanograms per milliliter, a value so high that practically the entire population would be deemed vitamin D deficient.

According to Dr. Rosen, additional research has disproved the presumption that vitamin D levels are correlated with parathyroid levels. However, doubt persisted. Therefore the National Institutes of Health funded the VITAL experiment to provide conclusive information regarding the connection between vitamin D and health.

The first section of VITAL, previously published, concluded that vitamin D did not protect study participants from cancer or cardiovascular disease. Additionally, it did not lessen knee discomfort, defend against macular degeneration, decrease falls, enhance cognitive function, lessen atrial fibrillation, alter body composition, lessen migraine frequency, or improve stroke outcomes.

According to another sizable Australian study, people using the supplement did not live longer.

The main VITAL trial's principal investigator, Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Harvard Medical School, noted that the study's size allowed it to include thousands of participants who had osteoporosis or had vitamin D levels that were deemed "insufficient" or "low." This allowed the researchers to conclude that the supplement did not affect their ability to prevent fractures.

That will surprise many, the doctor predicted. "However, we only require small to moderate doses of the vitamin for bone health. Larger amounts do not bring about greater benefits.

Dr. Meryl S. LeBoff, an osteoporosis specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is the bone study's first author and principal investigator. She expressed surprise. She had anticipated a reward.

She did, however, warn that the study did not address the issue of whether those with osteoporosis or low bone mass just short of the illness should take vitamin D and calcium in addition to osteoporosis drugs. She will continue to follow professional norms in her own practice and advise her patients to take vitamin D and calcium.

Dr. Dolores Shoback, an osteoporosis specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, will recommend vitamin D and calcium to patients with osteoporosis and low bone mass.

She described it as "a straightforward intervention, and I will keep prescribing it."

Some go a little bit further.

Dr. Sundeep Khosla, a professor of medicine and physiology at the Mayo Clinic, stated that he would continue to advise his osteoporosis patients to take vitamin D, recommending the 600 to 800 units per day in the National Academy of Medicine report, because it "will do little or no harm and may have benefits."

He added I'll continue to advise my loved ones and friends who don't have osteoporosis to take a daily multivitamin to prevent vitamin D deficiency.

Dr. Khosla himself abides by that counsel. He stated that many multivitamin tablets now come with 1,000 units of vitamin D.. Still, Drs. Cummings and Rosen are adamant in their position, even challenging the notion that healthy individuals could be vitamin D deficient.

What is a vitamin D insufficiency if vitamin D doesn't help? Inquired Dr. Cummings. That suggests that you should take vitamin D. Additionally, Dr. Rosen, who approved the National Academy of Medicine report, has turned against vitamin D therapy. I don't believe in 600 units anymore, he declared. "I don't think you ought to take any action,"