Dear listeners, welcome to the radio series News from the World of Medicine at Radiofabrik
Salzburg and Radio FRO Linz. My name is Dara Kopper.
A prestigious medical society selects the most important medical topics of the year.
Today I shall discuss for you the most important medical topic from the year 2022, except COVID-19.
Vitamin D supplements do not work.
Dear listeners, we now take a short musical break.
Vitamin D is vital for many aspects of your health. If you lead a healthy lifestyle,
eat a healthy diet, and from time to time your skin is exposed to the sun,
your body will manufacture the necessary vitamin D.
However, many doctors and patients alike believe that this is not enough.
They believe that even if you lead a healthy lifestyle, eat a healthy diet, and from time to
time your skin is exposed to the sun, you additionally should take vitamin D supplements.
They believe that if you take vitamin D supplements, your health will improve further.
Is this true?
So
do
the clinical trial with the designation vital had been published many years ago.
25,871 middle-aged or older community dwelling adults in the USA mean age 67 years had been
randomized to receive every day either a vitamin D supplement, 2,000 international units of vitamin D,
or a placebo. They had been followed for five years. Vitamin D supplements did not prevent
cardiovascular disease, for example, heart attacks or cancer.
So
do
this first part of the clinical trial vital had been published in the New England Journal of
Medicine. It had the title vitamin D supplementation and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular
disease. It had been published in the year 2019.
So
do
in the year 2022. The second part of the clinical trial vital was published, namely the effect of
vitamin D supplements on bone health. The result in short vitamin D supplements did not affect
bone fractures. The incidence of total fractures, non-vertebral bone fractures, and hip fractures,
as well as the incidence of major osteoporotic fractures, that is, osteoporotic hip, wrist,
humerus, or spine fractures, was the same with or without vitamin D supplements.
The second part of the clinical trial vital was published also in the New England Journal of
Medicine. It had the title supplemental vitamin D and incident fractures in midlife and older adults.
It was published in the year 2022.
So
do
not only did vitamin D supplements not affect the incidence of bone fractures. In addition,
also now identifiable subgroups benefited from vitamin D supplements, including participants
who also took calcium supplements and whose baseline vitamin D levels in blood were less than
24 nanogram per milliliter respectively less than 12 nanogram per milliliter.
In other words, vitamin D supplements plus calcium do not help either.
If you have your vitamin D level measures and it is low, vitamin D supplements do not help either.
Dear listeners, you are listening to the radio series News from the World of Medicine
at Radiofabrik Salzburg and Radio FRO Linz. Today we are talking about the following topic.
Vitamin D supplements do not work.
Perhaps some doctors or patients take vitamin D supplements on the assumption
that it might help them to live longer. They will be disappointed.
The clinical trial with the designation D-Health also was published in the year 2022.
21,315 adults 60 years of age or older received a monthly vitamin D supplement.
Those of 60,000 international units of vitamin D or placebo. They were followed for six years.
The overall mortality was the same in both groups, namely 5%.
Even the subgroup of participants with baseline vitamin D levels of under 20 nanogram per milliliter
did not show any benefit in overall mortality. In other words, if you have your blood vitamin D
level measured and it is low and you take vitamin D supplements, you will not live longer as a result.
This clinical trial D-Health was published in the medical journal The Lancet. It had the title
the D-Health trial, a randomized controlled trial of the effect of vitamin D on mortality.
It was published in the year 2022.
A systematic review of meta-analyses that covered randomized clinical trials
conducted before the vital study also showed that vitamin D supplements do not prevent bone
fractures in community dwelling adults.
This systematic review of meta-analyses was published in the journal of clinical endocrinology
and metabolism. It had the title vitamin D supplementation and fractures in adults.
A systematic umbrella review of meta-analyses of controlled trials. It was published in the year 2022.
Proponents of vitamin D supplements will argue that instead of recommending routine vitamin D
supplements or taking vitamin D supplements routinely, we should be screening everyone
for vitamin D deficiency and just treat those who are vitamin D deficient.
This argument has initial appeal but ignores the fact that even subgroups with low levels of vitamin
D in blood did not benefit in the vital or the D-Health clinical trials.
Furthermore, the threshold for vitamin D deficiency remains controversial.
I am not talking about financial costs here. Repeated routine blood test for vitamin D
would also incur significant health costs without proven health benefits.
In this case, every adult from 50 years of age onwards should go to the GP, the family physician,
and have a vitamin D blood test every year. I do not wish to know how many adults
would have anxiety or severe anxiety because of that.
So
doctors of course can stay vigilant for the occasional symptomatic patient
who has vitamin D deficiency related osteomalacia. Identifying and treating patients
with vitamin D deficiency related osteomalacia is warranted for doctors. However, such patients are few.
So
so
For the great majority of us there is no escape. If you take vitamin D supplements
your health will not improve. There is no easy and fast substitute for a healthy lifestyle.
You cannot buy a healthy body with vitamin D supplements.
So
so
Dear listeners, I repeat the most important points.
Vitamin D is vital for your health. If you lead a healthy lifestyle, eat a healthy diet,
and from time to time your skin is exposed to the sun, your body will manufacture the necessary
vitamin D. However, additionally taking vitamin D supplements will not improve your health.
Vitamin D supplements do not improve cardiovascular health, protect you from cancer, or improve your
bone health. Vitamin D supplements do not lead to fewer deaths. In other words, vitamin D supplements
do not lead to less mortality.
Two huge clinical trials where thousands and thousands of middle-aged and older men and women
were randomized to vitamin D supplements or placebo and had been followed for years
show these results.
Apart from a few special medical exceptions, for the vast majority of us
there is no escape. If you take vitamin D supplements your health will not improve.
There is no easy and fast substitute for a healthy lifestyle. You cannot buy
a healthy body with vitamin D supplements.
Dear listeners, the prestigious medical society that selects the most important
medical topics of the year is the Massachusetts Medical Society. Its members include professors
from Harvard University and other leading experts. They publish their selection in NEJM Journal Watch.
Dear listeners, if you want to listen to this radio broadcast once again, type into a search engine
for example, Taktak Go, Ecosia or Google, Radio Fabrik, News from the World of Medicine.
The first or second hit will be this series. There you can listen to all medical videos
as often as you wish. You also can read the text. Click on the link that you see.
Your browser automatically will open a web page, CBA.frl.at.
You will find the PDF file with the complete text under the section heading, Documents.
In the next broadcast, CT coronary angiography as the initial imaging test for stable chest pain.
During the musical breaks, today you heard Antimateria by Adrian Berenguer.
Dear listeners, this was today's News from the World of Medicine. I say goodbye to you now.
Until next time, this is Dara Kopper wishing you good health.