News in brief: Vitamin D fails on statin muscle symptoms; CVD risk for people with persistent asthma

24 Nov 2022

Vitamin D fails on statin muscle symptoms

Vitamin D supplementation does not prevent statin-associated muscle symptoms or reduce statin discontinuation.

A US study randomised over 25,000 men and women on statins to either 2000 IU daily cholecalciferol or placebo to determine if vitamin D would prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer

A sub-study of 2,800 participants who initiated statin therapy, found muscle symptoms while taking a statin were reported by 31% in the vitamin D group and 31% in the placebo group (adjusted OR 0.97; P = .78).

Similarly, statin discontinuation due to muscle symptoms did not differ between the two groups (13% v 13%; adjusted OR 1.04; P = .78).

The results were consistent across baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

“These null results in a large, contemporary randomized clinical trial suggest that vitamin D has little, if any, association with preventing statin-associated muscle symptoms,” the study said.

Read more in JAMA Cardiology


CVD risk for people with persistent asthma

People with persistent asthma have higher carotid plaque burden and higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers than people without asthma putting them at increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis enrolled more than 5,000 adults aged ≥45 years with no known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at baseline.

It found carotid plaque was present in 67% of participants with persistent asthma compared to 49.5% of participants with intermittent asthma and 50.5% of participants without asthma.

Persistent asthma was associated with a higher odds of carotid plaque presence (OR, 1.83; P<0.01).

Participants with persistent asthma also had higher serum markers of inflammation including CRP and interleukin-6.

“These findings suggest that the high IL-6 asthma phenotype may be at higher risk for carotid plaque development and future ASCVD events,” it said.

“Because asthma prevalence continues to increase and ASCVD remains the leading cause of death in the United States, these diseases create a significant public health burden and emphasise the importance of additional studies to define their shared mechanistic underpinnings.”

Read more in JAMA

 

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