Vitamin D may not protect kidney health in people with high diabetes risk

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Scientists from Stanford University found vitamin D supplementation may not protect the kidney health of people with pre-diabetes.

The research is published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and was conducted by Sun H. Kim et al.

In the general population, low blood vitamin D levels have been associated with higher risks of various diseases, including type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.

Pre-diabetes is a condition that increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, which in turn is the leading cause of kidney disease.

In the study, the team did an analysis of the Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes (D2d) study to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on kidney health in individuals with pre-diabetes.

The study assigned 2,423 adults with overweight/obesity and pre-diabetes to vitamin D34000 IU per day or placebo, for a treatment duration of 2.9 years.

During the trial, there were 28 cases of kidney function worsening in the vitamin D group and 30 in the placebo group, and the average change in kidney function during follow-up was similar in both groups.

The results did not show the benefit of vitamin D supplements on kidney function. About 43% of the study population was taking outside-of-study vitamin D, up to 1000 IU daily, at study entry, though.

The team says among those who were not taking any vitamin D on their own, there was a suggestion for vitamin D lowering the amount of urine protein over time, which means that it could have a beneficial effect on kidney health.

Additional studies are needed to look into this further.

If you care about kidney health, please read studies about common eating habits that may harm your kidney health, and these common vegetables may reduce kidney damage caused by diabetes.

For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about how bad kidneys can lead to heart disease, and results showing this common diabetes drug may reduce chronic kidney disease.

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