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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Adding a vitamin D supplement to your daily diet might not be a bad idea.
European researchers who reviewed 18 studies involving more than 57,000 people report those who took supplements of the "sunshine vitamin" had a 7-percent lower risk of dying. On average, people were followed for about six years, and the average dose of vitamin D was 528 international units per day.
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The investigators aren't sure how vitamin D might be lowering the risk of dying, but they speculate it could have something to do with the vitamin's ability to inhibit the development of cancer or improve the functioning of blood vessels or the immune system -- key factors in the two leading causes of death in industrialized countries, cancer and heart disease.
While many people, especially women suffering from osteoporosis or at risk for the condition, take vitamin D in conjunction with calcium, the review found similar benefits for vitamin D supplements taken alone and those taken with calcium. This leads researchers to conclude it is, indeed, vitamin D lowering the risk of death, not calcium.
The authors note other studies have shown mortality from common conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes is higher in locations farther away from the equator, where there is less sunshine and, thus, lower exposure to vitamin D, than in places closer to the equator. Other studies have concluded people are more likely to survive these illnesses in the summer months than in the winter months. The current findings for vitamin D supplementation support those results, study authors write.
Writing in an accompanying editorial, Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, suggests doctors should pay more attention to these types of studies. "Based on the total body of evidence of health conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency a more proactive attitude to identify, prevent and treat vitamin D deficiency should be part of standard medical care."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1730-1737
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