Daily intake of supplements with vitamin D3 helps to maintain heart function longer in patients with heart failure.
Such bold conclusions were presented by the staff of the University of Lida (Great Britain) at the recent 65th scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.
In the United States, there are about 5.1 million heart failure patients.
This is a condition in which the heart is unable to effectively pump blood to organs and tissues. The prognosis for chronic heart failure is usually very poor: 50% of patients die within 5 years after diagnosis.
But, according to Dr. Klaus Witte, daily intake of vitamin D3 is able to support the pumping function of the heart and extend life a little to such people. The researcher notes that people with heart failure often have a deficiency of vitamin D3: they are low in the air, and the bulk of this vitamin is synthesized in the body by the action of sunlight.
Heart failure in figures and facts:.
• In 2009, CH was responsible for 1 out of 5 deaths in America. • Each year, treatment and care costs US $ 32 billion. • Risk factors for HF: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease. Increased ejection fraction after vitamin intake?.
The last study involved 160 patients treated at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. All patients were advised personally by Dr. Witte. 80 participants were asked to take vitamin D3 for 1 year, the remaining 80 patients were given a placebo in the form of exactly the same capsules.
At the beginning and at the end of the study, doctors performed echocardiography (ultrasound) to assess cardiac function, including the left ventricular ejection fraction. This indicator, which characterizes the efficiency of pumping blood at each stroke, in a healthy person is 60-70%, but in people with heart failure it is much lower.
The survey brought good news: the majority of participants who in addition to the main treatment received vitamin D3, the left ventricular ejection fraction was not simply preserved, but in many cases it increased - from an average of 26% at the beginning to 34% a year later.
"This is very important information for patients: the first confirmation that vitamin D3 helps with weakness of the heart muscle, which we call heart failure.
Our data is really capable of transforming the treatment of this serious disease, "said Dr. Witte.
Moreover, in the course of his work Witte accidentally discovered that vitamin D3 reduces the need to use an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in heart failure. He noted that these devices are very expensive and require unnecessary interference, so avoiding ICD implantation, even for a few patients, is already a significant achievement.
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