Category: Vitamin D

Can Calcium supplements harm the heart ?

Yes, calcium supplements can cause harm.

Calcium is an essential mineral and an average average adult body contains more than 2 pounds of calcium.

Calcium is very essential not only for bone health but also for good functioning of many organs.

Too little calcium is bad but too much of calcium is also harmful.

Because calcium supplements are freely sold in Supermarkets and Pharmacies, many people assume they are absolutely safe.

A study published in Heart journal suggests that calcium supplements has the potential to damage heart valves.

The study also found that “Oral calcium supplementation with or without vitamin D is associated with lower survival”.

The results obviously need to be confirmed by other studies.

In the meantime, anyone with good amount of calcium in their routine diet need to think carefully about risk versus benefits of calcium supplements before taking them.

References

Daily Mail. Could bone boosting calcium pills be causing major damage to the hearts of millions of Britons?
By Erin Dean For The Mail On Sunday
22:01, 21 May 2022

Supplemental calcium and vitamin D and long-term mortality in aortic stenosis | Heart

Calcium, vitamin D and aortic valve calcification: to the bone or to the heart? | Heart https://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2022/03/23/heartjnl-2021-320672

Disclaimer: Please note – This blog is NOT medical advice. This blog is NOT a expert medical opinion on various topics. This blog is purely for information only and do check the sources where cited. Please DO consult your own doctor to discuss concerns and options relevant to you. The views expressed in this blog are NOT, in any way whatsoever, intended to be a substitute for professional advice. The blog is NOT previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed, in any way, by any organisation that the author is associated with. The views expressed in this blog likely represents some of the author’s personal views held at the time of drafting the blog and MAY CHANGE overtime, particularly when new evidence comes to light.

Benefits of Vitamin D supplements and Omega 3 supplements

Most people assume that nutritional supplements are always beneficial. But it is not always the case.

Paradoxically, the people, who may need the supplements because they don’t have a healthy diet, are the often ones who do not take the supplements !

But people, who usually do not need various supplements, because they are health conscious and have a good healthy diet, are often the ones who take the supplements unnecessarily !

Sometimes Supplements can be harmful. Hence, the need for clinical trials to assess the benefits and risks of various supplements.

So it is interesting to read a trial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) which looked at Vitamin D and marine derived omega 3 fatty acids supplements. The study looked the effect of these two supplements in preventing Autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune disease is a type of disease where body’s own immune system misfires and causes inflammation in self-tissues.

Autoimmune diseases, are often chronic conditions and cause considerable misery.

The study published in BMJ looked at Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune thyroid disease, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease, and all other new onset autoimmune diseases.

This well conducted study used a dummy pill and hence the results are usually expected to be quite reliable.

About 25 800 participants were enrolled in the study and were followed up for an average of about 5 years.

This large study from United States found that vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acid supplementation taken for five years reduces the risk of developing autoimmune diseases.

References: Vitamin D and marine omega 3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease: VITAL randomized controlled trial
BMJ 2022; 376 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-066452 (Published 26 January 2022)
Cite this as: BMJ 2022;376:e066452. https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-066452

Disclaimer: Please note – This blog is NOT medical advice. This blog is NOT a expert medical opinion on various topics. This blog is purely for information only and do check the sources where cited. Please DO consult your own doctor to discuss concerns and options relevant to you. The views expressed in this blog are NOT, in any way whatsoever, intended to be a substitute for professional advice. The blog is NOT previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed, in any way, by any organisation that the author is associated with. The views expressed in this blog likely represents some of the author’s personal views held at the time of drafting the blog and MAY CHANGE overtime, particularly when new evidence comes to light.

Vitamin D reduces risk of advanced cancer in normal-weight individuals.

“An ounce of prevention better than a pound of cure” is certainly true when it comes to cancer prevention.

Vitamin D, the “sunshine” vitamin has been proven to reduce risk of advanced cancers an large American study.

The study presented at the ASCO ( American Society of Clinical Oncology) virtual scientific symposium in 2020,

“The VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) was a high quality study. The study randomly assigned patients to Vitamin D3 supplements and/or omega-3 fatty acid supplements and/or both or placebo in 25,871 men and women.

The study found that “vitamin D supplementation decreased risk of developing advanced cancers by 17% compared with placebo ”

“Omega-3 supplementation did not reduce the incidence of advanced cancer.”

Reference:

Vitamin D Reduces Incidence of Advanced Cancers in Normal-Weight Individuals. ASCO Annual Meeting 2020.

Disclaimer: Please note- This blog is NOT medical advice. This blog is purely for information only and do check the the sources where cited. Please consult your own doctor to discuss concerns and options relevant to you.

The views expressed in this blog represent the author’s views held at the time of drafting the blog and is likely to change overtime, particularly when new evidence comes to light. The blog is not necessarily endorsed by any organisation the author is associated with and views are not substitute for professional advice.