Vitamin D May Curb Type 2 Risk

Past research has indicated that vitamin D supplements may help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A new study strengthens that possibility with its finding that people with higher vitamin D levels were less likely to develop type 2. Vitamin D is available to people through sunlight or dietary supplementation.

Finnish researchers analyzed 1978–1980 data on 4,097 participants (ages 40–69) in the Mini-Finland Health Survey. The survey provided information on participants' education, smoking status, exercise levels, and hypertension medication status. Participants' height, weight, and blood pressure were measured and blood samples collected.

Of the total sample, 187 people developed type 2 during the study period. After the researchers adjusted for subjects' age and sex and the time of year of blood sample collection, they found a significant inverse relation between serum vitamin D levels and incidence of type 2 diabetes. Subjects with the highest levels reduced their type 2 risk by 40%, the researchers calculate.

Vitamin D's protective effect appeared to weaken somewhat when the researchers further adjusted for such type 2 risk factors as body weight, smoking, exercise level, and education. However, they conclude that, overall, vitamin D appears to help reduce type 2 risk and call for further research on this apparent link and on the vitamin's effects relative to exercise and diet.