Vitamin D supplements help reduce risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes: Study

 USA: According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 3 adults have prediabetes. Patients diagnosed with prediabetes can still prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers combined the results of and analysed a systemic review and a meta-analysis to find that an intake of more vitamin D by pre diabetic individuals can be linked to a 15% reduction of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The scientific paper on the subject has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

For this study, the authors conducted a systemic review of the published literature on randomised, placebo-controlled diabetes prevention trials in association with vitamin D supplements in adults with prediabetes. The search showed a total of 3,835 citations from  PubMed and Embase and 270 records from clinicaltrials.gov

All citations were carefully analysed. Three researches were selected that fit the eligibility criteria. These were the 2019 study led by Pittas and the studies out of Norway and Japan.

The study out of Norway included 511 participants. The study in Japan had 1,256 participants. The 2019 study led by Dr Pittas analysed 2,423 participants.

The participants were given different samples of vitamin D supplements since they were conducted in different locations. Participants in Norway and US received cholecalciferol, while the Japanese participants received eldecalcitol.

A compilation of all scientific data revealed that vitamin D reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 12% in an unadjusted intention-to-treat analysis and 15% in an adjusted intention-to-treat analysis.