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Vitamin D & Telomere Length
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published the results of a randomized and placebo-controlled trial evaluating the effect of vitamin D on leukocyte telomere length (LTL), an established biomarker of aging. Known as the VITAL Telomere study, it was a subset of the much larger VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) trial, an ongoing…
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Vitamin D & MS Risk
The results of a randomized and placebo-controlled trial were recently published in JAMA, evaluating the use of high-dose vitamin D among adults with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). CIS is defined as the first neurological episode with similar symptoms to multiple sclerosis (MS). It lasts at least 24 hours, is caused by inflammation and demyelination, and…
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Vitamin D & Respiratory Tract Health
The results of a double-blind randomized and controlled clinical trial evaluating the effect of vitamin D supplementation on acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) in children living in Northern latitudes were recently published in the European Journal of Nutrition. This was a secondary analysis of a controlled trial investigating vitamin D supplementation as well as varying…
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Vitamin D & Vertigo
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), the most common cause of vertigo in older adults, is characterized by temporary symptoms brought on by having the head in a specific position, primarily nystagmus and vertigo. The portion of falls in an older population that can be attributed to BPPV is not clearly established, but is thought to…
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Sleep Apnea & Vitamin D
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Sleep & Breathing evaluated the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Twenty-four studies were found eligible for this review, including 15 case-control studies and 9 cross-sectional studies, involving a total of 2640 people with OSAS and 933 healthy participants (controls)…
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Vitamin D & Pregnancy
In a 2021 double-blind randomized trial which enrolled pregnant women in Northern Ireland, the primary outcome was the effect of vitamin D supplementation on levels of both maternal and umbilical 25-hydroxyvitamin D ([25(OH)D]), as well as the secondary goal of evaluating any impact of obesity. Two hundred and forty women (166 completed the study) were…
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Vitamin D & CRP
A systematic review and meta-analysis recently published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics examined the effects of vitamin D supplementation in post-menopausal women on both blood pressure and C-reactive protein, a marker of systemic inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk. This analysis included 7 randomized and controlled trials, directly comparing the effects…
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Vitamin D & Childhood Fractures
Findings from a phase 3 randomized and placebo-controlled trial (funded by the U.S. NIH), which evaluated the use of supplemental vitamin D to prevent fractures among schoolchildren living in Mongolia, were recently published in The Lancet, Diabetes & Endocrinology. Children between the ages of 6 to 13 were given a weekly oral dose of 14,000…
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Vitamin D & PCOS
A recent study has shown that out of 120 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the majority showed low levels of vitamin D, and that supplementation may help reduce the risk of the development of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular complications, in addition to correcting the imbalance in blood concentrations.
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Vitamin D & Dementia
Results of a large prospective cohort study were recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, describing the association between vitamin D supplementation and dementia incidence within the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) cohort. As the authors point out, there is considerable interest in vitamin D as a potential modifier of risk, as dementia affects 50 million…