Vitamin D Keeps Kidney Patients Alive

Reported May 12, 2008

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Taking activated vitamin D can reduce the risk of death in people with severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) by one quarter according to a new study.

Calcitriol (Rocaltrol) -- an oral form of activated vitamin D -- has been used as a treatment for CKD patients to lower levels of parathyroid hormones that can cause weakening of bones.

The study showed after adjustment for factors like age and kidney function, the risk of death for patients taking calcitriol went down 26 percent. They were also less likely to develop end-state renal disease requiring dialysis.

An overall 20 percent reduction in the risk of death or dialysis with calcitriol was not related to its effect on parathyroid hormone levels. In addition, the results suggest treatment with activated vitamin D can offer CKD patients who are not yet on dialysis a better chance of survival.

Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and inflammation. “Randomized clinical trials are needed to test the hypothesis that vitamin D therapy can improve cardiovascular health and survival in CKD,” Bryan Kestenbaum, M.D., a nephrologist at the University of Washington and one of the study’s authors, was quoted as saying. “Future studies should also examine the role of non-activated vitamin D, which is less expensive and less toxic.”

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, August 2008