FRIDAY, July 14, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For generally healthy older adults, vitamin D3 supplementation at 1,600 IU/day or 3,200 IU/day is associated with a reduction in the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during five years of follow-up, according to a research letter published online June 10 in the American Heart Journal.
Jyrki K. Virtanen, Ph.D., from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and colleagues compared the effects of five-year vitamin D3 supplementation versus placebo on AF risk among generally healthy men (aged 60 years and older) and postmenopausal women (aged 65 years and older). A total of 2,495 participants were randomly assigned to receive 1,600 IU/day or 3,200 IU/day vitamin D3 or placebo (832, 833, and 830 participants, respectively).
The researchers found that 190 participants were diagnosed with AF during a mean follow-up of 4.1 years. The absolute incidence rate difference was 0.57 per 100 person-years between the 1,600 IU/day and placebo arms and 0.68 per 100 person-years between the 3,200 IU/day and placebo arms. The AF risk was 27 and 32 percent lower in the 1,600-IU/day and 3,200-IU/day arms, respectively, compared with the placebo arm. The risk was reduced by 30 percent in the combined vitamin D3 arms versus the placebo arm. When excluding participants diagnosed with AF during the first two years of follow-up, the risk reductions were larger.
“Our findings suggest possible benefit in AF prevention with high-dose vitamin D supplementation in an elderly population, despite the relatively high baseline 25(OH)D concentrations,” the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to industry.
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