Vitamin D boosts heart function in study

According to a British study, Vitamin D3 is vital to improve heart function in people suffering from heart failure.

"These findings could make a significant difference to the care of heart failure patients," said study leader Dr. Klaus Witte, from the University of Leeds School of Medicine. "It is the first evidence that vitamin D3 can improve heart function of people with heart muscle weakness -- known as heart failure."

A total of 160 participants were included in the study who had pacemakers or received blood pressure drugs known as beta blockers or ACE inhibitors. The participants of the study were either administered Vitamin D or placebo medication once a day for a period of one year. The researchers said that they did not use calcium-based supplement for vitamin D because calcium can lead to other problems for heart failure patients.

After the study period, 26-34% patients who took vitamin D experienced improved pumping function, while there was no impact on the health of patients using placebo pills, said the researchers.

The study was revealed at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago on Monday. For now, the research is only considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-review journal.

According to the researchers, the patients who saw improvement in their heart function due to Vitamin D might not have to depend on implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that senses risky heart rhythms and uses shock to restore the patient's normal heartbeat.

"ICDs are expensive and involve an operation. If we can avoid an ICD implant in just a few patients, then that is a boost to patients and [health systems] as a whole," Witte said in a university news release.

The study authors revealed that as many as 23 million people are affected worldwide due to heart failure.