In recent times there has been an authentic euphoria due to vitamin D as a panacea in the face of a large number of pathologies, from cancer to cardiovascular diseases.So much so that the AEMPS has come to alert cases of overdose of this compound.
Among the latest properties attributed to vitamin D is its effect to prevent diabetes.Some observational studies have related their deficit to the appearance of high blood glucose levels.
However, a powerful essay with more than 2,000 people, carried out in the United States and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, throws a jug of cold water in the expectations about the usefulness of collecting collectiveness to stop the development of the disease.
Diabetes, Vitamin D and Life Styles
The randomized and double -blind study ‘D2D’ has measured the safety and efficacy of the administration of this supplement (4,000 international units per day, the equivalent of 0.025 micrograms) in prediabetic patients against placebo for two and a half years being a unit.
I followed: "Prediabetes or diabetes are not a criterion to request [supplementation of] vitamin D"
Of the 2,382 participants that reached its completion, there were 616 diabetes diagnoses: 293 in the vitamin D and 323 group in the placebo.That is, 9.39 percent of diagnoses in the group of those who took the supplement, and 10.66 percent in the control group.Thus, the authors have concluded that consuming vitamin D supplements did not result in a “significantly lower risk of diabetes than placebo”.
"Prediabetes or diabetes are not a criterion to request vitamin D," says Mateu Seguí, member of the Diabetes Working Group of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (Semergen), which has not participated in the work and considersThat the implications of the study for the family doctor will be "few" since "the number of people with prediabetes is enormous and there are other measures, within the modification of life styles, which can be used."
Vitamin D and prediabetes
However, Juana Carretero, internist at the Hospital of Zafra (Badajoz) and vice president of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), considers that “the use of vitamin D supplements is increasingly widespread to prevent the appearance of diabetes in patients in patientswith prediabetes and also, like those of the study 'D2D', they are obese ”.
Both road and followed that vitamin D is fashionable.“In recent times, and especially in the last decade, there has been a 'boom' of observational studies, many of them without excessive scientific rigor and with a very small number of participants, in which a possible effect was highlightedbeneficial from supplementation with vitamin D on the lipid profile, the glycemic profile, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, the immune system or even cancer, ”says the internist.
However, it continues, “when clinical trials with vitamin D are analyzed, especially these profiles, the results are very disparate and very different from observational studies.The latter, in most occasions, are not designed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D as a primary end, but would be a secondary end point or even a casual finding, in which factors are not taken into accountConfusion such as diet, physical exercise practice, the use of other medications with favorable profile on the expected result, age or gender ”.
Foods with vitamin D
CarreterPromote your increase, such as outdoor physical exercise, weight loss and prioritize foods rich in vitamin D in diet, such as blue fish, liver, dairy, egg ... "
Both she and followed that the ‘fashion’ of vitamin D is still very present today."It is certainly fashionable and a social alarm has been created, due to excess demand for vitamin D, without the doctors observing their translation into the clinic," explains the family doctor.
Carretero: "The only beneficial effect that we can expect with vitamin D is on muscuolesketic health"
"The consequence warned by the Spanish Medication Agency is the increase in cases of poisoning due to this vitamin in the form of hypercalcemia and kidney disease."
The vice president of the SEMI, on the other hand, says meta-analysis that The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology “regularly publishes on the effects of vitamin D on non-skeletal and skeletal diseases, where it is concluded that the only beneficial effect that we can expectIt is about musculoskeletal health, especially in elderly patients. ”
"This is," he continues, "to prevent loss of muscle function in elderly patients, especially those who already have sarcopenia or have a high risk of developing it, such as more fragile or multimorbility patients, especially in women and always accompanied by aphysical exercise program ”.
Vitamin D deficit
The Nejm article is accompanied by an editorial that analyzes the results of the study."Any benefit of vitamin D in diabetes prevention is modest and clearly does not belong to the population are sufficient levels of vitamin D," he says.
However, he points out that a post hoc analysis of 103 participants with vitamin D deficiency showed a relative risk of diabetes minor by consuming vitamin D. supplements D. "This can direct the intervention towards people with vitamin D deficiency," he concludes, he concludes.