Vitamin D may protect from cardiovascular events (USA)

"Although many vitamins and supplements have been rigorously tested in large scale clinical trials for their role in the prevention of diseases, little is known about the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the risk of cardiovascular disease. In new analysis of vitamin D and calcium research published in the last 43 years, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have found an association between vitamin D supplement use and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. These findings are published in the March 2 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. 'In this analysis of the limited available research, we have found that vitamin D supplements in moderate-to-high doses may reduce the risk of CVD and that calcium supplementation seems to have a minimal effect on the prevention of CVD,' said Lu Wang, MD, PhD, lead author of the paper and an instructor of medicine in the Division of Preventive Medicine at BWH"