Current vitamin D doses may not help patients achieve optimal levels

Current dosing recommendations are not helping patients achieve optimal Vitamin D levels two new studies have foundLow levels of Vitamin D have been shown to be associated with a higher risk of having a cardiac event like a heart attack or strokeFor this reason treatment by Vitamin D pills or injections are being investigated as a possible preventative method in these patientsHowever two new studies from Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City found that achieving those levels often takes giving patients much more than the daily recommended dietary allowance of 600 to 800 International Units IU In some cases patients needed more than 10000 IUldquoOur findings here show that just giving patients some Vitamin D does not help them achieve optimal levels If researchers are going to further look at Vitamin D dosing as a possible way to improve heart health patients need to be given the right doses to reach those ideal levelsrdquo said lead author Heidi May an epidemiologist at Intermountain HealthThe findings were presented at the American Heart Associationrsquos Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia on November 1213In the first analysis of the study 632 patients were stratified into two groups either receiving a general recommendation to discuss their Vitamin D treatment with their clinician or a targeted Vitamin D treatmentOf the 316 treatment participants nearly 90 per cent required some level of Vitamin D dosing Of those 865 per cent required more than 2000 international units IU daily and 146 per cent required more than 10000 IU dailyIn the second analysis of the study the baseline characteristics of study participants are reviewed All study participants had to have a cardiovascular event within 30 days of study enrollment The trial will continue until 104 patients have another heart event or if they die due to heart diseaseResearchers found that baseline Vitamin D levels were a median of 25 ngmL less than 20 ngmL is considered deficient and between 20 to 30 ngmL is insufficient Among those randomised to the treatment arm with a Vitamin D level under 40 585 per cent of patients had a starting Vitamin D dose of 5000 IU mdash again well over the 600 to 800 IU US Recommended Dietary AllowanceldquoThese findings show that without taking a tailored approach to evaluating and dosing with Vitamin D patients most likely will not see any resultsrdquo said Viet T Le researcher and physician associate at the Intermountain HealthldquoIf Vitamin D can help prevent heart attacks we want to know it but our findings are showing that you canrsquot just tell someone to take a single low supplement dose then set it and forget itrdquo Le addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever