Taking a daily vitamin D supplement will not prevent type 2 diabetes in adults at high risk, according to results from research funded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an element of the National Institutes of Health. The Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d) study enrolled 2,423 adults and was conducted at 22 sites throughout the united states of America. These findings were published June 7 into the New England Journal of Medicine and presented during the 79th Scientific Sessions regarding the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco bay area.

2d may be the most extensive study to directly examine if daily vitamin D supplementation assists in maintaining people at high risk for type 2 diabetes from developing the illness. The analysis included adults aged 30 or older and assigned participants randomly to either take 4,000 International Units (IU) for the D3 (cholecalciferol) kind of vitamin D or a placebo pill daily. All study participants had their vitamin D levels measured at the beginning of the study. During those times, about 80% of participants had vitamin D levels considered sufficient by U.S. nutritional standards.

“Observational studies have reported an association between lower levels of vitamin D and increased risk for type 2 diabetes,” said Myrlene Staten, M.D., D2d project scientist at NIDDK. “Additionally, smaller studies discovered that vitamin D could improve the function of beta cells, which produce insulin. However, whether vitamin D supplementation might help prevent or delay type 2, diabetes had not been known.”

The analysis screened participants every three to half a year for an average of 2.5 years to ascertain if diabetes had developed. Researchers then compared how many people in all the two study groups which had progressed to type 2 diabetes. At the end of the analysis, 293 away from 1211 participants (24.2%) in the vitamin D group developed diabetes in comparison to 323 out of 1212 (26.7%) into the placebo group – a difference that failed to reach statistical significance. The study was made to detect a risk decrease by 25% or even more.

D2d enrolled a different number of participants with a variety of physical characteristics, including sex, age, and body mass index, as well as racial and ethnic diversity. This representation helps ensure that the analysis findings could be widely applicable to people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

As well as the study’s size, certainly one of its major strengths could be the diversity of their participants, which enabled us to examine the effect of vitamin D across a sizable number of people. When the study ended, we found no meaningful difference between the two groups, no matter age, sex, race, or ethnicity.

Reference
NIH-funded trial finds vitamin D does not prevent type 2 …. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-trial-finds-vitamin-d-does-not-prevent-type-2-diabetes-people-high-risk