CardioExchange Archive

September 30th, 2014

Genetic Analysis Fails to Support Vitamin D to Prevent Diabetes

Larry Husten, PHD

A vitamin D pill can’t substitute for a healthy diet and sunshine, a new genetic study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggests. In recent years many people have been seduced by observational studies that found low levels of vitamin D in people who developed type 2 diabetes. The new study instead suggests that the association […]

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December 19th, 2011

More Uncertainty About Vitamin D Supplements

Larry Husten, PHD

Although many experts believe that vitamin D deficiency may play a significant role in cardiovascular disease, there is little evidence to support the use of vitamin D supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In a narrative review published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Cora McGreevy and David Williams write that the few available studies have […]

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June 22nd, 2011

JAMA: Skeptical Perspectives on Consumer Cardiac Tests and Vitamin D

Larry Husten, PHD

Two commentaries published in JAMA offer skeptical perspectives on the roles of direct-to-consumer (DTC) cardiac tests and vitamin D in cardiovascular health. In the first commentary, Kimberly Lovett and Bryan Liang write that DTC screening tests “likely pose more risk than benefit to patients,” and point out that for companies selling these tests there is no requirement […]

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April 20th, 2011

New WHI Analysis Links Calcium Supplements to CV Risk

Larry Husten, PHD

A new analysis may renew concerns that the combination of calcium supplements and vitamin D might increase cardiovascular risk. The link has been proposed before, but the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) found no additional risk. Now, however, in an article appearing in BMJ, Mark Bolland and colleagues point out that more than half the 36,000 […]

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