Vitamin D does not seem to be effective in reducing blood pressure, and therefore should not be prescribed as an antihypertensive: this is the conclusion of the review of clinical trials published on the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Certain observational studies had noticed a frequent incidence of vitamin D deficiency in subjects with high blood pressure, while randomized studies on vitamin D in humans had given contrasting results on the supposed beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases. An English study from 2013, which considered over 155 000 people concluded that those with high concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D had lower average blood pressure values, and therefore suffered a lower risk of hypertension. An Australian trial, published in 2014 on The Lancet diabetes & endocrinology, observed a vitamin D deficit in many hypertensive patients, leading to the hypothesis of its possible beneficial effects. Scottish scientist Miles Witham of the University of Dundee explains the situation in the light of the results of the clinical studies published in Jama Internal Medicine: 73 trials were considered, for a total of 7633 participants, and the effect of a supplement of vitamin D on blood pressure was deemed insubstantial. He concludes that the study does not support the use of vitamin D in the treatment of individual patients or as an anti-hypertensive strategy on the population.
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