In the news: New Findings on vitamin D and type 2; Omega-3’s Maybe Optimal for Migraine

Vitamin D Levels Linked to Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk

A meta-analysis and systematic review of large studies published in 2023 found that vitamin D supplementation that achieved a blood level of about 50 ng/L, reduced the risk of developing type 2 by 15% in those with prediabetes. [See www.sbh Vol. 27, Vitamin D May Benefit Prediabetics].

Authors of a newly published study(1), took a different approach to assess the effect of vitamin D levels on type 2 risk. They measured baseline vitamin D levels in individuals with prediabetes and those with normal blood glucose and followed them for a median of 14 years to learn who would develop type 2.

They also looked at vitamin D receptor genetic variants in relation to vitamin D blood levels to evaluate whether these variants were involved in modifying type 2 risk.

This prospective study included nearly 380,000 participants from the UK Biobank who were free of type 2 at the study’s start. Analyses were performed according to glycemic status and HbA1c levels.

Results showed that higher blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 for both those who started out with blood glucose levels in the normal range and for those with prediabetes.

Specifically, the risk was 38% lower for those with blood levels equal to or higher than 75 nmol/L for those with normoglycemia and 36% lower among participants with prediabetes compared to individuals with blood levels below 25 nmol/L.

Higher vitamin D blood levels were also linked with a lower risk of type 2 across HBA1c levels.

The reduced risk of type 2 associated with higher vitamin D levels was more prominent in those carrying T allele of rs1544410 for vitamin D receptor.

Correlations were additionally seen with blood lipid levels, most notably triglycerides.

Having both high triglycerides and low vitamin D levels raised the risk of developing type 2 more than having one of these risk factors alone.

Omega-3 Reduces Migraine Frequency & Severity?

Large scale surveys suggest that the prevalence of migraine is high in the US, with symptoms affecting roughly 17% of women and 6% of men. Although several drugs are available to treat migraine, their acceptability is relatively low. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are considered promising nutritional strategies for addressing migraine, and a recently published study suggests that this may be the case.

The study(2) is a network meta-analysis which included 40 randomized controlled trials and 6,616 participants with a diagnosis of either chronic or episodic migraine. The primary outcomes assessed were changes in migraine frequency and acceptability of treatment.

The analysis found that supplementation with high dose EPA/DHA (> 1.5 g daily) yields the largest decrease in migraine frequency and severity vs. placebo.

EPA and DHA supplementation was associated with the greatest improvements in frequency and severity among all the studied interventions.

Interestingly, supplemental omega-3 also showed the most favorable acceptability rate of all the prophylactic treatments that were examined.

Although large scale trials are still needed, these results suggest that omega-3 supplementation may be beneficial for migraineurs.

References

1. Y Fu, et al. Vitamin D status, vitamin D receptor poly-morphisms, and risk of type 2 diabetes: A prospective cohort study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Epub Apr 4, 2024.
2. Tseng PT, et al. High dosage omega-3 fatty acids outperform existing pharmacological options for migraine prophylaxis: A network meta-analysis. Adv Nutr 15(2) :100163, 2024.