Help Your Heart With Vitamin D

People suffering from heart failure can benefit from Vitamin D supplements, a recent study suggests.

18:05 06 April 2016

A recent study conducted by the Leeds Teaching Hospital team has found that Vitamin D, which is made in skin when exposed to the sun, improves the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body in patients suffering from heart failure.

 

The study, which was presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, was participated by 163 individuals whose average age is 70.

 

The patients were given either a 100 microgram vitamin D tablet or a sugar pill placebo each day for a year. The researchers then measured the impact of heart failure using ejection fraction, or the amount of blood pumped out of the chambers of the heart with each beat, as key measure. The ejection fraction for those taking vitamin pills increased from 26per cent to 34per cent.

 

Consultant cardiologist Dr Klaus Witte said: "It's quite a big deal, that's as big as you'd expect from other more expensive treatments that we use, it's a stunning effect.”

 

"It's as cheap as chips, has no side effects and a stunning improvement on people already on optimal medical therapy, it is the first time anyone has shown something like this in the last 15 years."