Medicine News: Vitamine D

Vitamin D Supplements Linked to Reduced Mortality Risk

Vitamin D supplementation is associated with reduced overall mortality, researchers report in Archives of Internal Medicine.
In a meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials involving some 57,000 patients, those randomized to receive vitamin D had a 7% reduction in all-cause mortality during a mean follow-up of 5.7 years. Addition of calcium supplementation to the intervention did not change the relative risk.
Most of the daily doses of vitamin D were between 400 IU and 833 IU, close to publicly available doses.
Although the authors say it's not clear how vitamin D supplementation might reduce mortality, they note that "some effects mediated through the activation of the vitamin D receptor, such as inhibition of cellular proliferation and activation of cellular differentiation, could reduce aggressiveness of cancerous processes and expansion of atheromatous lesions."
Archives of Internal Medicine article (Free abstract; full text requires subscription)
Archives of Internal Medicine editorial (Subscription required)